The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Gombe State University has declared an indefinite strike over lingering welfare issues.

The ASUU branch Chairman, Dr Suleiman Salihu Jauro, said on Wednesday, that the strike action became necessary due to poor teaching and learning activities at the university.

“Some of the issues are the non-implementation of the 2021 Memorandum of Action (MoA) between the ASUU and the state government, on increasing funding for the university and non-payment of accumulated Earned Academic Allowances (EAA),” Jauro said.

He also said that the government refused to honour the MoA it signed with the union. 

“Another major component of the 2021 MoA which the government reneged is the provision of N50 million to the university per annum. Almost four years after signing the agreement,  the state government is yet to pay a kobo for that purpose.” 

The ASUU chairman lamented that non-payment of the EAA for over five years caused the staff to suffer difficulties in discharging excess workload despite the poor working conditions.

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Jauro added that despite signing into law the N30,000 minimum wage by Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya in 2020, the university has failed to implement it leaving workers with the outdated salary table of 2012.

He stated that there have been non-payment of promotion arrears for four years and non-implementation of the 35 percent and 25 percent wage awards for academic staff.

The union said the failure of the government to honour the MoA left the union with no option but to embark on indefinite strike action.

He appealed to students and parents to understand their constraints and advised the government to do the needful.