A policy analyst and administrator, University of Abuja, Dr. Mike Idoko, has said that the policy of ‘no work, no pay’ melted against university lecturers by the Federal Government is a disservice to them and the students at large.

Idoko, who stated this during an interactive session with journalists in Kaduna, yesterday, said university employees should not be treated like any other government employees when demanding for their rights through strike.

The analyst noted that the peculiarity and styles, which university services are rendered by the personnel, are so complex for an ordinary mind to understand, adding that the lecturers will still carry out all the suspended activities upon resumption.

He said: “The university system is not like any other government ministry or parastatal where work abandoned during strike is abandoned for ever. The university work is not a hospital work where if a patient dies during strike, such is dead for ever.

“As the universities reopened for activities, the lecturers will still do their work in arrears. They must teach all their outstanding courses abandoned during the strike, supervised the final year students project topics and prepare results for spill-over students.

“In the same manner, the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions (NASU) in faculties and academic centres, as well as academic offices, must process and update students’ academic records, which were abandoned during the strike as they resume.

“Screening of newly-admitted students and issuance of matriculation number by the faculty officers and academic centres must be done in arrears.”

“The campuses that had been taking over by grasses and reptiles must be cleared and fumigated by NASU in arrears for the safety of life and property of members of staff and students before resumption.

“The security departments of the universities have been combing and keeping surveillance of the adjoining bushes and villages around campuses to ensure safety. These are all work in arrears, which must be appropriately remunerated.”

Idoko, who further reiterated that strike is the last option for resolving trade union dispute between the employer and employees, appealed to government on the need to consider the plight of lecturers for the common good of the educational sector.