The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced plans to declare a nationwide strike soon following the Federal Government’s refusal to meet its demands despite consistent appeals.
Coordinator of the Lagos zone of the union, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, who spoke with reporters, yesterday, at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), accused the Federal Government of insensitivity, saying that it could no longer wait endlessly for President Bola Tinubu’s administration to fulfil its promises to them.
Odukoya, during a conference held at the UNILAG, with all the union branch leaders from the zone in attendance, said unless the Federal Government acts fast and addresses the demands of public universities, ASUU would have no choice but to declare a nationwide strike.
He spoke against the backdrop of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the Obafemi Awołowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, last Saturday.
The coordinator said: “Our union assessed the outcomes of its engagements with the federal and state governments over the last few months on matters pertaining to the status of developments around the renegotiated 2009 agreement, payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), unremitted deductions from IPPIS, proliferation of universities, and many other matters.
“NEC also had a critical review of governments’ policies and actions that had led to the current deteriorated living and working conditions across the country and in the universities.”
He dismissed the threat of a ‘no work, no pay’ rule by the government, adding that the policy is unknown in global labour laws of which Nigeria is a signatory.
Odukoya, who spoke on the newly-constituted governing councils for federal universities, described them as ‘illegal.’
He said ASUU had urged the government to recall the dismissed council to complete their tenures in line with the University Act upon which they were constituted.
“So, we are not talking about the personalities and composition in the list, but the illegality of constituting new councils,” he added.
The ASUU chief also called for proper funding of public universities rather than creating new ones.
