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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Abia State University (ABSU) chapter, has declared that its ongoing indefinite strike will not be suspended until the university recalls Prof. Nnamdi Nwaeze, who was recently suspended over a Facebook post highlighting lecturers' welfare challenges.
Speaking in an interview, the ASUU-ABSU Chairman, Dr. Chidi Mbah, said the union rejected the suspension, insisting that the university failed to follow due process as stipulated in its regulations.
Mbah maintained that the union found nothing offensive in Prof. Nwaeze's comments, stressing that the lecturer merely spoke the truth about the poor welfare conditions facing staff.
According to him, ASUU had informed the university management that it would resist the suspension and had also briefed the union's national leadership, which directed the chapter to oppose the action.
He disclosed that the union had made it clear to the Abia State Government that even if all outstanding financial demands were met, the strike would remain in force until the suspended professor was reinstated.
"The suspension must be lifted before we can call off the strike," Mbah said.
The ASUU chairman confirmed that lecturers at the institution were still being paid under the obsolete 2009 salary structure, adding that many promoted academics had yet to receive salaries reflecting their new ranks.
He alleged that lecturers receive only half of their salaries and claimed that about N473 million deducted from staff cooperative funds had not been remitted.
Mbah also backed Prof. Nwaeze's claim that several lecturers were owed salary arrears ranging from two months to as much as 44 months, describing the situation as widespread.
He explained that the union embarked on an indefinite strike on August 11 over unresolved welfare issues, noting that the industrial action began before the suspended professor made his social media post.
According to him, the union had engaged the government in discussions for years, attended more than 30 meetings and signed several agreements, but none had been fully implemented.
Mbah revealed that Governor Alex Otti approved the union's demands on April 29, but alleged that the approval had not been implemented, blaming unnamed government officials for the delay.
He also lamented that ABSU lecturers had never benefited from the Earned Academic Allowance enjoyed by their counterparts in other public universities.
While commending Governor Otti for ongoing infrastructure projects at the university, Mbah argued that staff welfare had received little attention.
The ASUU chairman said poor remuneration had made life difficult for lecturers, many of whom struggle to meet family responsibilities and pay their children's school fees.
He maintained that dialogue had been exhausted, insisting that the strike remained the only available option until the union's demands, including the reinstatement of Prof. Nwaeze, were fully addressed.
