ASUU-ATBU berates Ngige’s handling of union’s 2022 strike action

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) chapter has berated the former Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, over what it described as silencing the Nigerian constitution on matters of national interest.

The union called on the Nigerian State to address “unfair treatment meted on academics in the Nigerian public Universities.” 

Addressing Journalists at its office at ATBU, Yelwa campus on Thursday, ASUU chapter Chairperson, Dr Ibrahim Ibrahim Inuwa flanked by the Secretary, Haruna Angulu, said that the actions of the former Minister was done deliberately to frustrate the ASUU members. 

Reading the text of the briefing titled: ‘Discriminatory Payments of our Members Salary during the ASUU 2022 National Strike’ ASUU ATBU stated that, “It has become necessary for the Union to call the attention of the Nigerian State on the ploy by the former Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige, to divide and break the resoluteness of our members during the Union’s 2022 national strike that lasted almost 8 months.” 

According to ASUU, ATBU branch,”At the peak of our national strike, Dr Ngige deceptively told Nigerians that lecturers in the College of Medical Sciences of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi were not on strike.

“To convince Nigerians, Dr Ngige claimed that lecturers under the umbrella of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) wrote to him through the University Vice Chancellor dissociating themselves from the ASUU national strike.

“As a ploy, Dr Ngige presented MDCAN as a purely academic union. He hid from the public the fact that not all Medical and Dental Consultants operating in the teaching hospitals are core staff of the academic unit that forms the College of Medical Sciences of the University (CMS).”

“Under this guise, Dr Ngige made a case to the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) for some lecturers in the CMS of the University to be paid,” It further stated. 

Continuing, the union said that “If it was true that lecturers in the CMS of the University were working during strike, this will have given the Medical students a level edge over their mates from other Faculties of the University. Unfortunately, this is not the case, because our members in all the academic units of the University were on strike.”

“The Union wonders why a Minister who took an oath to ethically conduct himself in accordance to the dictates of the Constitution of the country will allow ego to take him this far.”

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