The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has dared the Federal Government over its threat to enforce the “no work, no pay” policy, declaring that it is equally prepared to implement a “no pay, no work” response.

This came as the Federal Government warned university lecturers that they would not be paid for the two-week warning strike recently declared by the union.

Speaking with journalists in Kano, Chairman of ASUU, Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Professor Ibrahim Siraj, said lecturers would not be deterred by the government’s threat.

Professor Siraj, who noted that the union was familiar with various tactics used by the government to weaken its struggles, insisted that ASUU would remain resolute in pursuing its demands.

“Yes, the ‘no work, no pay’ policy is not strange to ASUU. It’s nothing new. The previous administration did something similar, so it’s not a surprise to us. But let me say that ASUU will not be intimidated. The threat will never deter us from our objectives,” he said.

“So, in return, if you say ‘no work, no pay,’ we also say ‘no pay, no work.’ That is the stand of the union. We are undeterred. We have seen this before; we have crossed this road before, and we will cross it again.

“And if our demands are genuine, we can sacrifice whatever months they refuse to pay us. They have denied us salaries for months in the past—two months, three months, even eight months. Did we die? We are still here. So this will come and pass,” Siraj added.

The ASUU leader confirmed full compliance with the strike directive by members at the institution, saying there would be no lectures, examinations, supervision, symposiums, or any academic-related activities during the industrial action.

He explained that lecturers only supervised the final paper of the second-semester examinations on Monday, marking the commencement of the semester break, after which all academic activities were suspended for the duration of the strike.

Meanwhile, academic activities have also been paralyzed at Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Wudil, and North West University, Kano, following the nationwide strike.

Although both institutions are owned by the Kano State Government, ASUU said members in state universities would join the strike in solidarity with their counterparts in Federal Government-owned institutions.