By Jonathan Okpanachi
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Niger Delta University (NDU) chapter, has concluded to embark on industrial strike action.
ASUU, through its chairman, Comrade Oyinkepreye Lucky Bebeteidoh, said the decision was informed by the refusal of the state government to respond to many moves to seek audience with the visitor of the institution, Gov Douye Diri, on the challenges affecting members and the university in general.
Bebeteidoh told newsmen at the secretariat of the ASUU at the NDU campus in Wilberforce island in Ammassoma that the congress of the union resolved to initiate the process leading to the resumption of its suspended industrial action with immediate effect.
It was gathered that the contending issues between ASUU and the Bayelsa State Government include the implementation of the 35 percent and 25 percent salary increment for members with immediate effect and payment of the arrears from January 2023 to date, and the consequential adjustment and immediate implementation of the N70,000 Minimum Wage to members.
Bebeteidoh listed that issues as: “The implementation of the annual step increment with immediate effect and the payment of the arrears from 2018; Payment of the arrears from 2018 to date and the provision of on-campus residential accommodation for staff members to ease the burden and risk of commuting to work from Yenagoa on daily basis.
“Implementation of the annual review of the monthly subvention as contained in the MoA earlier signed on the 1st of September,2022. Employment of academic staff especially those below the rank of senior lecturer (graduate assistants,lecturer 11, and lecturer 1). This will bridge the academic manpower gap in almost all the departments in the Niger Delta University and also provide funding for accreditation needs of the university.”
Comrade Oyinkepreye Lucky Bebeteidoh, while speaking in the presence of the executives of ASUU, NDU; Vice Chairman, Comrade Ebilade Baraka, Secretary, Comrade Victory Owede, Financial Secretary, Comrade Tampon Johnbull and Welfare Officer, Comrade Tarikiye Angaye, claimed that since the inception of the current administration, no single project has been undertaken in the university.
“The university, as you know, is best described as a TETFund University, as TETFund and other federal interventions are the only means of physical and human infrastructural development. The evidence is glaring.
“Sadly, efforts are also being made to remove this only existing infrastructural and human resources development lifeline of the Niger Delta University under the guise of distributing TETFund interventions to all the universities in the state when it is clearly indicated in the TETFund guidelines that only two universities can be funded alternatively.”
He said the process of the strike action takes immediate effect after due ratification from the ASUU national leadership, adding that, “We have been hesitant to resume our suspended strike action. However, it has become abundantly clear that industrial action is the only language successive governments respond to.”
