The Lagos Zonal Coordinator of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Adelaja Odukoya says the union is not insensitive to the plight of students as some of its members are students who are affected by the union’s strike.
‘’Several of our members are equally students, not less than 50% of our members are in Masters and Ph.D. programmes. They are equally students because they can equally not afford to go abroad,’’ he told Nigeria Info.
He says it is “unfair’’ to think that lecturers are not affected by the strike either as parents or students.
‘’So, when you talk about students; when you talk about parents, you exclude ASUU members as if they are not students as if they don’t have children that are students, or as if they are equally not parents.’’
Comrade Odukoya faulted the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which the Federal Government wants public university lecturers to use.
According to him, the system is not favourable to Nigerian lecturers.
‘’It has rendered our university useless. University can no longer work the way it works.’’
He insists the alternative payroll system, University Transparency and Accountability Solutions(UTAS) developed by ASUU should be deployed.
‘’They have challenged us to develop an alternative, we have developed the alternative. It has been tested by stakeholders including NITDA. It must be deployed.’’
