The Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan (UI) chapter, Dr Adefemi Afolabi on Tuesday said there is no going back on the two-week nationwide warning strike embarked upon by the union.
Afolabi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan that members of the union have complied with the warning strike.
“We have been duly and constantly carried along in meetings called at the national level and members have also criticised the slow speed at which the government has been treating the matter.
“It is good to state that the federal government received the report of the committee that was set up to review the report of the previous committee that was set up in 2016 .
“The current committee was set up in 2024 September to review the previous committee report and it was submitted in February 2025.
`This means that for eight months nothing has happened.
“The union has made several efforts to contact people who we believe the government will listen to apart from the efforts we’ve been making to get the implementation done on time,” he said.
According to Afolabi, the last meeting at the national level was on Sept. 28 and it was at the meeting a decision was made to give the government a 2- week Ultimatum to sign the draft agreement of the committee.
“If nothing is done within the stipulated time the warning strike will begin. All these were stated clearly to the government hence the warning strike he said.
He added that the no work no pay warning from the government was not new.
“We will get by and by. The response we expected was that the government would resolve the matter and they have the leverage of power to sign the agreement and also poses the finances to pay salaries of universities which is the core issue here.
“So why is the government waiting for this warning strike before issuing a no work no pay warning.
`It’s unfortunate that that’s the type of response we get from the government.
“We as ASUU or any union will not want our students to be outside of the university. Our joy is for them to finish their education on time and graduate,” he said.
He, however, urged the government to do the needful in order to end the recycling of strikes.
Ayobami Lawal, a 300-level students, while speaking on the warning strike blamed the government saying that the incessant strike in the country was unfair to both students and lecturers.
Lawal said that lecturers deserves better treatment from the government because of the great impact they are making in the society.
“When the lecturers are well paid they will perform optimally and produce quality graduates who in turn will make positive impact in the society, ” he said.
Yetunde Adebayo a 200-level student said that incessant strike can affect students in their studies .
“Do you know it took some of us, I mean the students longer period to gain admission to study in the instructions and when you add up this incessant strike it not suitable at all.
“Learning would be more fun and fast when their are no strikes, we need a stop to strikes in the educational sector.
“The government should prioritise our lecturers like they do to politicians,” she said.
