By Enyim Enyim
ONITSHA—The Commissioner for Information in Anambra State, Chief Maja Umeh, yesterday gave a marching order to striking Association of Senior Staff  Union of Universties, ASUU, in the state to go back to the class room, following increment of the lecturers’ salaries by Governor Peter Obi.

Addressing reporters in his office, Umeh explained that the salaries of the lecturers were increased from N235,000 to N400,000 as recommended by  Anambra State University Governing Council against the N500, 000 being demanded by ASUU.

He told the striking lecturers that patriotism and concern for the welfare of the students and the need not to over burden parents with an astronomical rise in school fees, should be their major concern.

The commissioner warned that further insensitivity to the plight of the students would be a major disservice to the state and humanity and called on the lecturers to resume work immediately before their action would be seen as a case of extreme greed.

The state, he said, needed peace and continuous improvement of the academic standards in its schools to complement Governor Peter Obi’s laudable efforts in education and not the current distraction.

He called on the people of  Anambra State, traditional rulers, stakeholders, religious leaders among others, to prevail on the lecturers to return to work immediately in the interest of students who had been suffering untold hardship since the four-month-old strike.

Umeh said it was preposterous for the lecturers to insist on the salary paid to their federal counterparts at the same time the governor rejected the salary recommended for him, his deputy, and commissioners by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission and opted for 30 per cent of the approved salary.

In another development,  Commissioner for fFnance in Anambra State, Mr Eze Echesi, has described as false claims by ASUU in the state that government was currently receiving N650million as security vote, noting that since assuming office, Governor Peter Obi had not received more than N200m as security vote.