The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the early hours of Monday resolved to continue its ongoing strike action after its National Executive Council meeting. Furthermore, the union decided to extend the strike by four weeks.
Reports from the union’s NEC meeting disclosed that there was no new development as Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu hadn’t reported back to ASUU.
What they are saying
The President of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke expressed displeasure over the lingering issue between the academic bodies and the federal government.
He said “the union wonders why it had taken five full months and needless muscle-flexing for government to come to the realisation of the need for honest engagement.”
He further added that the “NEC acknowledged the growing understanding of the issues and the groundswell of support for the Union’s principled demand for a globally competitive university education in Nigeria. Nigerian universities must not be reduced to constituency projects that merely exist on paper and our scholars must be incentivized to stay back and do what they know best, here in Nigeria.”
What you should know
NLC member states all over the country embarked on a 2-day peaceful protest in solidarity with the ongoing strike by university unions in the country. Responding to the action, Nigerian lawmakers promised to interfere to resolve the issue.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other university unions have been on strike for months following the failure of the federal government to honour its agreement with the union.
ASUU’s demands include the payment of agreed wages, payment for the revitalization of public universities, adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a preferred payment option, etc. The disagreement between ASUU and the federal government has been a recurring issue for many years.