Threatens Fresh Strike
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed its readiness to embark on another round of industrial action following what it called government’s unfaithfulness in the implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MoA), it signed with the union upon which the last strike action was suspended.
ASUU national president, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, who stated this after the body’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the University of Abuja on November 13 and 14, 2021, said government should be held responsible, if it failed to address the issues raised within three weeks.
The union lamented that, depsite its meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on October 14, 2021, on the major outstanding issues including funding for revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) promotion arrears, renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, and the inconsistencies in IPPIS payment, the issues remained unattended to.
Osodeke said, “ASUU is fully committed to upholding academic integrity in our universities and working to make them more globally competitive.
We are equally committed to promoting industrial harmony in the Nigerian University System for as long as all stakeholders are willing and committed to play their parts.
“We call on all Vice-Chancellors, as the main drivers of the system, to join us in this mission to safeguard the waning image of our universities.
They have no business trading honorary degrees and academic positions for personal and immediate gains; thereby smearing the collective integrity of committed scholars and other patriots who are working day and night to uplift the system that produced them.
“Our union shall not shy away from taking the fight to administrators of Nigerian universities as well as internal and external agents who are and external agents who are bent on compromising the standard ASUU has consistently laboured to protect and improve.
“Finally, we call on all patriotic Nigerians and lovers of Nigeria to prevail on the federal and state governments to act fast to prevent another round of industrial crisis in Nigeria’s public universities.
“It is painful that our Union may soon have no other way of securing the implementation of FGN-ASUU collectively bargained agreements and redressing the criminal neglect of welfare issues of our members by State Governors.
Governments of Nigerian should be held responsible should ASUU be forced to activate the strike it patriotically suspended,” he said.
Threatens Fresh Strike
