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‘Why I Chose To Stay’- Lecturer Who Rejected Juicy Overseas Offer Laments ASUU Strike

You Have Put The Country On Auto-Run - ASUU Tackles Nigerian Government

A lecturer at the Bayero University Kano (BUK), Mohammed Shaibu Atabo, has lamented the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The lecturer in a post via Facebook on Wednesday, revealed that patriotism is the reason why he rejected a job offer in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) months before ASUU embarked on strike on February 14, 2022.

Shaibu who described the decision as a tough one, says he paying a bitter price as the Nigerian government refuses to implement several agreements it entered with ASUU, thus making the strike to linger.

Atabo further notes that it’s been a year since he turned down the offer of appointment from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Dubai.

His post reads: “A job opportunity to work in Dubai came soon after I obtained my PhD from UDUS and a lecturing job offer from Bayero University Kano (BUK).

“Today marks precisely one year since I turned down the offer of appointment from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Dubai (for easy reference).

“This was a tough decision I made out of patriotism for my country. I chose to stay back and work in BUK rather than go abroad. I received harsh criticism from my family and friends for making this decision.

“Yes, I applied for the job at UAEU and I was interviewed. Out of over 200 applicants from around the world, I was selected as the top prospect. It was after all preparations were made and I was on the verge of leaving the country that I realized I was not ready to trade my job in Nigeria for the sake of moving abroad.

“Today, those of us in academia who chose to stay back are paying a bitter price because our government entered into several agreements with ASUU and failed to implement them. Gosh!! These are agreements our government voluntarily entered into and signed several years ago. After six months of ASUU strike, instead of our government addressing the issue, its best solution was to blackmail ASUU and threaten us with ‘‘No Work, No Pay’’

“No wonder our generation is now a ‘Japa generation,’ people now leave this country at the slightest opportunity. We are slaves in our own country.

Naija News understands that ASUU has been on strike since February 14th of 2022 to press home its numerous demands to the Federal Government, which include payment of earned allowances and salaries for lecturers, improved funding and maintenance for tertiary institutions, the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability system (UTAS) for salary payment instead of the government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the renegotiation of the ASUU FG 2009 agreement, among others.

Since the industrial action began, several negotiations between the union and the government have ended in deadlock.

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