Moyosore Ajao, the chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ilorin (Unilorin) chapter, has called on stakeholders, particularly parents, to prevail on the federal government to resolve the ongoing strike.

Making the appeal while speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Monday, Mr Ajao noted that it was high time parents and other organised bodies pressured the government to give the matter the much-needed critical attention instead of the lip service it is currently paying.

The union leader emphasised the need for students to conclude, continue or commence their various academic programmes as the case might be.

Mr Ajao expressed optimism that by the time parents add their voices to the issue, the federal government would expedite action towards resolving the logjam once and for all.

He also believed that Nigeria was not too poor to fund the nation’s educational system as expected while lamenting that the salaries paid to university teachers are too low compared to what their colleagues in other fields earn.

Mr Ajao added that the decision of the federal government to apply the policy of “no work, no pay”, which informed the non-payment of their salaries since February, was not in tune with reality.

He, therefore, said the government has no reason not to pay lecturers’ salaries, saying that insistence on applying “no work, no pay” will only worsen the resolution of the industrial dispute.

Mr Ajao, a professor of anatomy, added that the union did not go on the strike for the betterment of the welfare of its members only but to ensure that the nation’s university system witnessed improvement in the quality of its services and products.

(NAN)