ASUU hints at nationwide strike over govt failure to fulfill 2009 MOU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has hinted that it may embark on a nationwide strike over failure by the Federal Government to fulfil the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached with it since 2009.

This was revealed on Wednesday by the Chairman of the University of Jos chapter of ASUU, Dr Lazarus Maigoro, who informed that the union was currently mobilising its members across the nation in a bid to embark on strike because government has failed to meet its demands.

Maigoro who was speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that a large part of the union’s demands from the government were aimed at improving the standard of universities in the country.

He said; “It is true that we are currently mobilizing our members across our 13 zones in the country for a nationwide strike and this is because the government has failed to fulfil the MoU of 2009.

“It was the same issues that led to the strike in 2018 which was later suspended in February 2019 and as I speak to you, government has not fulfilled any of the agreements reached

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“Our demands are not personal, but we want adequate funding for universities, more infrastructure development and what have you so that students can learn under a conducive atmosphere.

“So, parents and indeed Nigerians should not see us in bad light, because we are pushing for a cause that will raise the standard of our universities.

“Remember, our children and colleagues are also schooling in this system; we are also affected by the strikes, and so it is not about us, but the future generation,” Maigoro added.

The development comes after President Muhammadu Buhari told members of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) that there is no going back on the directive that all employees of the Federal Government must be enrolled in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Buhari who revealed this on Saturday during the 29th convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Minna, said that the move was to block loopholes in public finance so as to eliminate fraud.

According to Buhari who was represented at the convocation ceremony by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, the country is faced with a number of challenges and government was doing everything possible to address the challenges.

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