We won’t end strike until suspended Abia varsity professor is recalled – ASUU chair, Mbah

Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abia State University chapter, Dr Chidi Mbah, shares with CHUKWUDI AKASIKE his thoughts on the recent suspension of a lecturer at the university, Prof Nnamdi Nwaeze, the ongoing strike in ABSU, and the poor remuneration of members of the union

What is the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abia State University chapter’s response to the suspension of one of the lecturers, Prof Nnamdi Nwaeze, over his recent Facebook post?

We had a meeting with the management of the university, and we, as ASUU, made our position clear on the suspension. We told them that we would not accept it for any reason and that, if there was any justification for the suspension, the laid-down procedures in the university’s edict should have been followed.

For us in ASUU, we did not see anything wrong with what Prof Nwaeze did. The university claimed there were accumulated acts of wrongdoing by the lecturer before now, but we said those allegations were neither before us nor to our knowledge.

If there had been any previous offence, we expected the institution to have acted on it at the time. For them to suspend him now, we do not accept it.

How accurate are the claims made by Prof Nwaeze regarding lecturers’ salaries and welfare?

All the claims are true.

But is it true that ABSU lecturers are still being paid under the 2009 ASUU-FG salary structure?

That is why I said everything he mentioned in his post is true, and that is one of the reasons we are on strike. It is not even about the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance. It goes beyond that because lecturers who have been promoted are not being paid on the appropriate salary scale.

They pay us only half of our salaries. They also deducted N473m from our cooperative funds and have not remitted it to our account. You should note that this did not happen under the current administration, but government is a continuum. It happened during the previous administration.

The suspended lecturer also claimed that some lecturers are owed salaries for as long as 44 months. How widespread is this problem?

That is true. It is what we call salary omission. It is not just one person, or 20, or 30. They are many. Some are owed 17 months, some 30 months, some 35 months, and some as much as 44 months. Others are owed two months, 10 months, or three months. Today (Friday), we had a meeting with the government.

What was the meeting about?

You know we are on strike. The meeting was about resolving the strike, but we told them there was no going back. They must pay everything they owe us. I will not disclose what they told us because we have to brief our Congress first. If Congress accepts the offer, then we will go by it.

We will hold a Congress on Tuesday, and by then we will relay what the government has offered. If the members approve it, we will call off the strike.

Has the union reached out to the suspended lecturer?

Yes. I have spoken with him two or three times. I called him yesterday (Thursday) and asked whether he had received the suspension letter, but he said no at the time. I told him to send me a copy as soon as he received it, and he did.

I forwarded the suspension letter to our national headquarters, and they directed us to resist it. Today, we made it clear to the government that even if they meet all our demands, we will not call off the strike unless the suspended professor is reinstated.

What was the state government’s response to your stance?

The government exonerated itself from Prof Nwaeze’s suspension, saying it did not instruct the Vice-Chancellor to take the decision. The VC was present at the meeting between the state government and ASUU.

They said they were not involved in the suspension and that we should hold the university management responsible. But we insisted that the suspension must be lifted before we suspend our strike.

Is the union worried that Prof Nwaeze’s suspension could discourage other lecturers from speaking out about their salaries and welfare?

We are deeply worried about it. That is exactly why we stepped in. The suspension is a serious threat, and we must resist it. As ASUU, we will not accept anything that undermines our freedom or the autonomy of the university.

Would you say the outcome of the meeting between the government, ABSU management and your union was encouraging?

Initially, it was not. But today, it became encouraging. During the meeting, when we insisted that our colleague’s suspension must be lifted, they told us we would hear from them before Tuesday.

When did you embark on the current strike?

It was on Tuesday, August 11.

Was the strike based on the suspension and the backlog of money owed ABSU lecturers?

No. We embarked on the strike before Prof Nwaeze made his post online. The strike began on Tuesday, while he made the post on Wednesday morning and was suspended later that same day.

How has the issue of poor welfare affected your members, especially their standard of living?

To be candid with you, it has had a serious impact on us, and that is why we are saying there is no going back this time. We have been in this struggle since 2023 and have reached different agreements with the government, but they reneged on all of them.

We gave them enough time. We wrote to government officials, commissioners, the Chief of Staff, technical committees and others. This time, everything boils down to the fact that we must get to Umuahia. If you want to buy something as basic as fuel, approval has to come from Umuahia.

We attended meetings in Umuahia more than 30 times before taking this stand. If not for the rigorous process ASUU follows, we would have gone on strike a long time ago. We started this process long before the strike was approved.

What we receive as salary in ABSU cannot even take us from the classroom to the university gate, let alone take us home. It is very unfortunate.

Most of your colleagues are married and have children. How have they been coping with the meagre salary?

Yes, lecturers have children in school too, and they pay school fees. It has been very tough.

Previously, if you were a lecturer and your children were in the university, their fees were deducted from your salary. They stopped that arrangement, and we are fighting to restore it.

We will not tolerate the current situation any longer. That policy must return so that lecturers can pay their children’s fees through salary deductions, based on an agreement with management. Now, if you don’t pay, your children are sent out of the university. That is part of what we are fighting against.

You said the national headquarters of ASUU is aware of your strike. When did it approve the action?

Yes. It was shortly after I returned from the NEC meeting. That was on Monday, and we declared the strike on Tuesday. The NEC meeting held from Friday to Sunday, and it was there that approval was granted.

Is it an indefinite strike or a warning strike?

It is an indefinite strike. It is total and comprehensive.

How many lecturers are affected by the salary and welfare issues?

We have about 557 lecturers, excluding those employed this year.

What message of hope do you have for them?

I want to tell them to remain calm. Their leadership is with them. We understand their pain, and we must get it right this time. We are not going to back out.

Some people claim the opposition is using us, but we are not concerned about such allegations. We will pursue this matter to the end.

Is the opposition behind your decision to embark on strike?

How can the opposition be behind our decision? If they were using us, we would have taken actions the government never imagined. We gave the government enough time.

I am also a politician. I am the ASUU chairman in ABSU and the President-General of Uturu. I met Amaobi Ogar, Uche Ogar, a former minister, the Attorney-General from Isuikwuato, and even the Chief of Staff personally. I begged and pleaded because I did not want this issue to degenerate into claims that the opposition was behind it.

All we are saying is simple: pay us what is due.

When we issued a 14-day ultimatum, the government set up a committee. We nominated a representative, but we made it clear that the committee would not determine our position.

ASUU does not reject any genuine effort aimed at resolving a strike. We did not realise then that the committee was merely a delay tactic. Governor Alex Otti approved our demands.

When did the governor give that approval?

We received the governor’s approval on April 29. He approved everything, but from April till now, nothing has been implemented. Something is fishy. Something is wrong somewhere.

Who do you think is responsible for the non-implementation?

Perhaps the governor’s aides or officials, the Head of Service and the Accountant-General. In fact, both of them are the culprits in this matter.

Are ABSU lecturers also owed the Earned Academic Allowance?

Absolutely. We have never experienced what the Earned Academic Allowance looks like. We only hear that lecturers in other universities receive it.

To be frank, if you visit Abia State University today, you will see new structures being erected by the governor, and I commend him for that. But the welfare of staff is almost non-existent.

Lastly, is strike the only option left for ASUU-ABSU?

After giving the government ample time, attending numerous meetings, engaging in dialogue and pleading for our rights, what else do you expect us to do? The only option left is to withdraw our services.

We have exhausted dialogue, diplomacy and every available avenue.

The Commissioner for Tertiary Education and the Secretary to the State Government both acknowledged that our strike was justified. Even in writing, they admitted that our demands are genuine and that we had tried everything possible to avoid industrial action.

We all live in Nigeria. We know what the Abia State Government receives monthly from the Federal Government. Yes, the state says it has earmarked 20 per cent of its allocation for education, and that is commendable. But we are not experiencing that commitment in our welfare.