ASUU announces indefinite strike to ’save universities’, accuses Nigerian govt of indifference

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday, stated that the goal of its protest is to “defend public universities.”

This was contained in a communique issued by the ASUU National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke.

After the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union convened on Sunday in Abuja, the organization initially announced its decision to extend the strike’s six-month duration.

The union’s NEC “decided to metamorphose the roll-over strike into a comprehensive, entire and indefinite strike action beginning at 12.01 a.m. on Monday, August 29, 2022,” according to Prof Osodeke.

The union claimed that the Federal Government had not complied with its demands “satisfactorily,” in the communique titled “ASUU Strikes Are To Save Public Universities.”

It reads in part, “NEC observed with regret that the Union had experienced a lot of deceit of the highest level in the last five and half years as the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) engaged ASUU in fruitless and unending negotiation without a display of utmost fidelity.

“In 2017, the Federal Government constituted a committee to renegotiate the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement under the chairmanship of Dr. Wale Babalakin. After three years of fruitless negotiation, Dr. Babalakin was replaced in December 2020 with Professor Emeritus Munzali Jibril. The Renegotiation Committee produced and submitted a draft agreement to the Federal Government in May, 2021.

Read also: Strike: ASUU endangering Nigeria’s education system – PANDEF

“It is sad that, until 14th February, 2022 when the ongoing strike commenced, the Federal Government made no significant efforts to either sign the agreement or commence implementation. It was only after the commencement of this strike that the Federal Government reconstituted the committee with Professor Emeritus Nimi Briggs appointed Chairman to lead the Government Team.”

The union further berated the FG and the Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, for misinforming Nigerians about the situation of things.

“NEC noted that ASUU and other well-meaning Nigerians have expressed serious disappointment by and consternation on the attitude of the Government conveyed by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who had deliberately misinformed the public and reduced the current struggle of ASUU to the payment of withheld salaries, claiming that all other contentious issues had been resolved,” the communique read.

“ASUU struggles are to save Nigerian public universities irrespective of ownership – Federal or State. ASUU shall use all legitimate means at its disposal to protect and defend the interests of our members in public universities who may be victimised on the account of the ongoing struggles.”

The national body of ASUU had on Monday, February 14, 2022, declared a national strike grounding academic activities in federal universities and some state-owned universities across the country.

It had requested from the Federal Government the release of revitalisation funds to universities; earned allowances; deployment of the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers; release of the white paper on the visitation panels to universities among others.

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