As the strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) lingers on, a gate at the University of Port Harcourt has become almost inaccessible having been overgrown by weeds.
Judging from a photo shared online one of the gates of the school has become very bushy as a result of the ASUU strike of over six months.
See photo
In other news the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Thursday said it would not call off its strike until the salary arrears of its members were paid.
The university lecturers also said they would not teach students to make up for the six months they had been on strike if the Federal Government failed to pay for the “period of strike.”
The union’s national president, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, disclosed this to The PUNCH in response to a statement by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, that the Federal Government would not concede to ASUU’s demands for the backlog of salaries withheld within the period.
ASUU had embarked on a one-month warning strike on February 14. However, the union has extended the strike several times in the past six months.
Meanwhile, Education Minister, Adamu Adamu had told State House correspondents on Thursday that the government would not pay the lecturers for the period of strike.
But reacting to the government’s position, Osodeke said, “He is joking. If they fail to pay, we will not teach those students; we won’t make up for that period. We will start a new session (2022/2023). We won’t conduct examinations; we will start a fresh session totally.
“Lecturers are not doctors that once life is gone, it can’t be brought back. For lecturers, we can still resume where we stopped and still teach them and make up for lost time. But for us, if they fail to pay we won’t make up for the lost time. We won’t go back to fill backlogs; the schools will start a new session, 2022/2023. Examinations and the period lost won’t be taught.”
