Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Abuja chapter, Clement Chup has said that the leadership of the Union never had a meeting with Vice President Sambo where government reportedly shifted grounds on their demands. They called the reports from online mediums claiming this to be spurious and nothing more than cheap blackmail from the government in order to get ASUU to call of the strike.
The report, which alleged government further shifted ground on the demands made by the union, by agreeing to add N10 billion to the N30 billion initially provided for the settlement of earned allowances, making it N40 billion was said to be false.
It was also reported that government had shored up the N100 billion meant for infrastructure to N150 billion with a pledge to periodically inject more funds into the system in line with the Needs Implementation Committee chaired by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan. This was also said to be false.
Chup said, “In fact, I read the mischievous report online myself, but I am telling you authoritatively that there was no such meeting.
“Government is only trying to use propaganda and cheap blackmail to make us call off this strike, but it will not work.
“Our strike is still very much on course, in fact ASUU will soon release a position paper on these developments, we are used to this kind of blackmail from government.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Ambrose Alli University chapter of ASUU, Fred Esumeh said the Union enjoys public sympathy despite FG’s sponsored protests.
“As I keep saying, this strike is a product of failed leadership on the part of government; this is because we had series of dialogue to reach an agreement.
“An agreement reached since 2009 that has not been implemented up till now, obviously it is a product of failed leadership, before this time that we commenced strike, there have been over 53 letters, not to talk of several meetings with House and Senate committees on education to intervene.
“I do not think ASUU is loosing public sympathy, because what we see in our electronic media and perhaps few print media is sponsored protest.
“Like the one organised by the market women, that one is laughable, you could see that it is government sponsored.
“Then of course the guy that parades himself as NANS President, Yinka Gbadebo, a diploma student in OAU, who was rusticated from Ekiti State University.
“A diploma student cannot even contest to be an SUG president and to be a NANS president, you must be from SUG presidents all over the federation, so we know these people are sponsored by government,” Esumeh said.