Half pay: ASUU plans protest, declares lecture-free day

The Academic Staff Union of Universities is set to embark on a one-day nationwide protest rally over the implementation by the Federal Government of a “no-work, no-pay” policy for lecturers in the country.

The protest will be organised at the branch levels of the union across public university campuses nationwide and it will take place as a lecture-free day for all lecturers who are members.

A member of the National Executive Council of the union confirmed this in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday.

“We are protesting. Branches will choose their own dates, the government needs to understand that we are not casual workers.”

Confirming the development, a letter signed by the chairperson of ASUU, University of Lagos branch, Dr Dele Ashir,  noted that the branch would protest on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

The  letter which was addressed to “all stakeholders” noted that the special congress/ protest rally against the casualization of intellectualism in Nigeria  will hold on “Tuesday, November 15, 2022, at Julius Berger auditorium.”

The national president of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke could not be immediately reached for comments as of the time of filing this report.

The PUNCH had exclusively reported how the government had paid members of ASUU “half pay” for the month of October 2022.

Defending the decision of the government, the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige noted that the university lecturers were paid pro-rata.