.
By Sam Kayode
Ten members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) branch have paid the supreme price during the current industrial action.
The strike was called by the labour union to drive home their demand for improved welfare of members and the development of dilapidated facilities in public universities.
This was confirmed on phone by the information officer of the institution, Mallam Ahmed Tanko, while chatting with metrowatchxtra.com newspaper.
Mallam Tanko debunked the wild figures making the mills that about 42 academic and non-academic staff may have lost their lives as a result of the lingering strike.
Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has also been unable to convince President Mohammed Buhari on the need to follow up on the details of all previous agreements as all negotiations between the union and the Government have hit stone walls.
On the allegations of too many deaths caused by lack of finance to take care of themselves, Tanko went on: “I have been seeing those wild figures flying around the social media with some claiming that as much as 72 souls may have perished during this February to September period of no work no pay leveled on university staff by the Federal government but they are outrageous and untrue.
” It’s true we lost some staff during the period under review but these are staff who have been suffering from one ailment or the other before now.
“And you know what it means to be under the situation we find ourselves. Death will always come when it will but I can assure you that only 10 staff have died since February when the strike started.
Attempts to get the branch chairman of ASUU, Dr Habu Meshellia, to comment on the mortality rate among his members was futile but a source very close to the union who craved anonymity told metrowatchxtra.com newspaper that most of those who died may have been managing one ailment or the other.
He confirmed that Professor Aminu Ayuba also late now was using tubes in his heart after a complex operation and it was just a matter of time that the ultimate may happen and not due to lack of resources to take care of himself.
” You can see how things are unfolding as we declared a total strike. Indeed there will be casualties after such a declaration but this is the price we pay for fighting for the upgrade of the educational system especially at the university level in this country.
“Remember what Shakespeare said about death. It’s a necessity and there is nothing we can do about it. It can come from any angle. Ask soldiers who went to war. Not all of them will return. Some will surely die even by just collapsing on the battlefield without one bullet touching them.
“It’s obvious those that died have been battling with one illness or the other. Some have been undergoing radiology, others chemotherapy and one had a coronary bypass surgery into his heart. So we can’t necessarily link all of the deaths to the fall out of the strike.
“You asked for the exact number of those who have died. I can’t tell you exactly how many because even few days ago, we lost one Professor in the University community.
“And of course, we had to bury him like others. It’s only when you get to the Gwange cemetery that you will be able to see people that have died. But if you don’t have a relation affected you may not understand that someone has died either naturally or otherwise..
“But this will not deter us from our focus. I can assure you that we have followed all the necessary protocols and we are in the realm of a total strike until victory is attained.”
Meanwhile, the Federal government has withdrawn an earlier circular in which it directed Vice Chancellors to resume school at all cost.
It is obvious that there will be no going back by the Professors until the recalcitrant Federal Government meets the critical demands of ASUU half way before the industrial action can be halted.
