The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has announced its decision to embark on one-month “comprehensive and total” nationwide strike.
ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, declared this at a press conference on Monday in Lagos.
Members of the union’s National Executive Council had held marathon meetings since Saturday at the University of Lagos titled, ‘NEC for NEC.’
Before now,the association had sensitised and mobilised lecturers and students across all universities across the country on the reason the union might likely go on strike.
The union had expressed grievances over the failure of the Federal Government to fulfill some of the agreements it made as far back as 2009.
Recall that ASUU had on November 15, 2021, given the Federal Government a three-week ultimatum over the failure to meet the demands.
The lecturers had threatened to embark on another round of industrial action, following the alleged “government’s unfaithfulness” in the implementation of the Memorandum of Action, MoA, it signed with the union, leading to the suspension of the 2020 strike action.
But after the union’s National Executive Council meeting at the University of Abuja on November 13 and 14, 2021, ASUU President, Prof. Osodeke, lamented that despite meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on October 14, 2021, on 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 Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System Payment, IPPIS, none of its demands had been met.
Following the threat, the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, had promised that the union would be paid.
A few weeks after, ASUU suspended the planned strike, as N22.1 billion earned allowances were paid to lecturers in federal universities.
On the heels of the union’s renewed agitations, the co-chairmen of the National Inter-religious Council, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar III, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, visited the President Muhammadu Buhari last month, over the lack of implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, the government signed with ASUU in 2009 and others.
