Days after announcing an extension of the industrial strike action to 12 more weeks, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has said it is not going back on that decision.
Speaking in a press briefing on Wednesday morning in the nation’s capital Abuja, ASUU president, Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke said that the union had exhausted every other option to reach an amicable agreement with the government before deciding on embarking on an additional 3-month strike.
Osedeke told the media that the government was treating their matter with levity and were simply not willing to resolve pending issues because the state of the nation’s educational system did not directly affect them.
The president backed up his statement by citing how quickly the government swung into action after airline operators threatened to strike, saying that this was simply because the political elites were directly affected.
“Let me give you an example because this is where we are getting it wrong, when the airline operators said they were going to stop the flights, the Senate and House of Representatives quickly stepped in,” Osedeke said.
He then added, “This is because they are affected; they quickly rushed in and addressed the problem, why would they not resolve that of the education sector that is affecting the children of the poor and the ordinary people. If the government is willing to resolve the issues affecting the Nigerians, then there would be no need to go on strike. The problem is the will of the government to resolve issues.”
ASUU initially embarked on a warning strike on the 14th of February for reasons including the government’s failure to honor the 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement, as well as the inconsistency in Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS.
The staff union is also demanding that the government fund the revitalization of public universities, pay promotion arrears owed, as well as implement, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS).
Despite several meetings between the two parties, a gridlock persists.
Osedeke later added;
“All the issues that made us to go on strike are still there; that is the revitalisation fund, that is putting more money into universities and revitalising the infrastructure in the universities.
Read Also: “I’m Scared” – Laycon Reacts to Unending ASUU Strike
There is also the issue of our mode of payments in the universities. There is no university in the world where lecturers are paid salaries from the Accountant General’s Office.
We have challenged them to provide one, if universities are universal body, why are they doing things differently.
We talk of negotiation of agreement, proliferation of universities, among others, so there are lots of issues that they have not resolved.”
The minister of Labour, Chris Ngige who is among over twenty presidential aspirants of the APC to drop NGN 100 million for the party nomination form says the government has no money to meet ASUU’s demands.
Meanwhile, university students across the nation have begun a nationwide protest seeking to force the hand of the government to take action to halt the strike. Student protests have kicked off in Ogun, Oyo, and Lagos states. Students have also threatened to disrupt ongoing political activities in order to get the government’s attention.
“We have resolved that we have to take our destinies into our hands. The leadership of NANS has resolved that there will be no political activities, especially party primaries in Abuja and other parts of the country. The mass action is in all the 36 states of the Federation and FCT, said NANS Victor Ezenagu in his May 10th interview with Channels TV.
Ezenagu added;
“You cannot be a hunting game when your house is on fire. What is government? Government is about responding to the needs of the people and their welfare. ASUU cannot be on strike for three months and nothing is being done by the government to end it.
The mass protest actually started today (Tuesday) in almost eleven states. It started at the University of Lagos and others are joining. We will block all federal roads, shut down airports, and indeed the economy of Nigeria until the universities are reopened for students to resume classes.”
NANS has issued a 9-day ultimatum for the government and ASUU to reach an agreement and reopen varsities nationwide.
Recent Comments