Musa Pam JOS 
The Chairman of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Lazarus Luka Maigoro, has said that the union has employed no fewer than 25 people from the Dong community in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
He disclosed this during the commissioning of the UNIJOS Academic Staff Cooperative Investment Company Limited (UJASCICL) Bottled Water and Beverage Factory sited in Dong community in the Jos North Local Government Area of the state. Maigoro, however, noted that the factory had provided employment opportunities to more than 25 people from the host community, saying ASUU would continue to touch the lives of Nigerians positively.
This bottled water factory, he pointed out, attests to the fact that ASUU is not all about strikes, but “we are providing employment opportunities to Nigerians through our activities and we also believed in the philosophy of making Nigeria work through provision of a comfortable learning environment for Nigerian students.”
The ASUU chair added that the Cooperative Investment Company has rehabilitated one of the major roads for easy access to some parts of the host community, even as Maigoro noted that the union had also built, commissioned and hand over to the university management a 1,500-capacity lecture hall in order to provide a conducive learning atmosphere for students.
According to him, the water factory is aimed at enhancing the welfare of ASUU members and providing employment opportunities for members of the host community. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Tanko Ishaya, assured ASUU of the university’s commitment to providing the enabling environment to advance their welfare.
He further declared that the water factory has become the official water for the university and called on the neighbouring communities to patronise the product. Meanwhile, the Pro-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who was represented by former President of ASUU, Prof. Nasir Fagge, said the union would continue to press for the improvement in the living conditions of Nigerians.
Jega, who said ASUU-UNIJOS is leading the crusade for positive change in the struggle, urged the branch to think of coming up with an event centre to generate more income that will improve the welfare of members.
“UNIJOS ASUU chapter is the first to build a befitting secretariat, and constructed a lecture hall which it handed over to the university, and today the union is setting the pace with the inaugurations of a factory for investment,” he added
