By Abiola Olawale
Smiles are beaming on the faces of University lecturers as the Federal Government has begun payment of the withheld salaries of academics under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU).
The chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, who confirmed the development on the record, said, “Yes, it is true. Payment has started rolling in.”
Also, some lecturers of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) who spoke with The New Diplomat have also confirmed the development.
A lecturer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said he received the payment in the early hours of Sunday. He, however, confirmed that he only received the alert of one month out of the withheld eight months.
Another lecturer who spoke with the New Diplomat said he hasn’t received any alert but noted that some of his colleagues have shared the news with him.
The development is coming months after President Bola Tinubu Tinubu had approved the release of four of the eight months’ ASUU withheld workers’ salaries.
The salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against some university-based unions that embarked on a strike that lasted eight months in 2022.
