The Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU ) has turned over its continuous strike for an additional 12 weeks.
Nigeria – An assertion endorsed by ASUU president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said this was to give the public authority sufficient opportunity to determine every one of the exceptional issues agreeably.
It likewise expressed that the turn over strike was compelling from 12.01 am, May 9, 2021.
ASUU said it took this choice after its National Executive Council meeting what began on Sunday night at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja.
The statement read, “After extensive deliberations, noting Government’s failure to live up to its responsibilities and speedily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA) within the additional eight-week roll–over strike period declared on 14th March 2022, NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for twelve weeks to give Government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.
“The roll-over strike action is with effect from 12.01 a.m. on Monday, 9th May 2022.”
The public statement named, ‘Update on ASUU turn over strike,’ read, “The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) held a crisis meeting on Sunday, eighth May 2022 at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, Abuja.
“The meeting was called to review developments since the Union declared an eight-week total and comprehensive roll-over strike action at the end of its emergency NEC meeting at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, Abuja on 14th March, 2022. The strike action came on the heels of the Government’s failure to satisfactorily implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) it signed with the Union in December 2020 on renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), funding for revitalization of public universities (both Federal and States), proliferation and governance issues in State Universities, promotion arrears, withheld salaries (owed for over 20 months in some cases), and Non-emittance of third-party deductions.”
It added that NEC noted with genuine frustration that the three-man Committee set up by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on first February 2022 to determine the waiting issues among ASUU and FGN had not assembled a solitary conference to date.
“NEC was equally disappointed that ASUU’s only meeting with the Professor Nimi Briggs-led Renegotiation Committee did not reflect the expected level of understanding, preparation and clarity that undergird collective bargaining going by the Committee’s confession of “going about consulting stakeholders”. Unless urgent steps are taken to redirect the Committee on concluding a draft Agreement that has been pending since May 2021, its activities may end up as another wild goose chase,” it read.
ASUU NEC additionally denounced Federal Government’s careless mentality towards the strike activity over the most recent twelve weeks, saying the public authority’s hotel to the utilization of starvation as a weapon for breaking the aggregate determination of ASUU individuals and subvert our devoted battle to reposition state funded colleges in Nigeria was foolish and may demonstrate counterproductive.
The assertion said, “NEC was stunned that state funded colleges have stayed shut for around 90 days while individuals from the political class were in the middle of buying articulation of interest and assignment structures worth a few great many Naira in arrangements for 2023 decisions! People with great influence betrayed our corrupted colleges as they transport among Europe and America to commend the graduation of their youngsters and wards from elite colleges. This says a lot fair and square of degeneracy, cold-heartedness, and flippancy of Nigeria’s astute and parasitic political class.
“The consequence of the crook disregard of schooling and absurd blunder of the country’s patrimony is clear in the breakdown of the security design of our country. Instability is deteriorating constantly and spreading like the harmattan hellfire in until now quiet and got portions of Nigeria, including college grounds. Yet again ASUU cautions, that except if something radical is done to switch these appalling patterns, the nation might be set out toward a condition of political agitation.
“NEC censured the provocative articulations of a few government functionaries and salutes the Nigerian Labor Congress, enthusiastic understudies’ gatherings and common society associations who have made strides towards settling the ongoing work question with the Nigeria government.
“NEC observed the arranged abroad excursion coordinated by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities’ Spouses (CVCNUS) abominable and condemnable. The publicized five-day meeting in Istanbul is a misuse of scant assets of our colleges; it is coldhearted and provocative, especially during such a critical point in time when teachers are denied their pay rates for thinking about attempting to work on the parcel of our state funded colleges.”
Last Friday, it was accounted for that the Minister of Labor and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, during a gathering with the striking National Association of Academic Technologists vowed to meet with ASUU this week.
In any case, Osodeke told our journalist, that the association still couldn’t seem to get any notification of meeting from any Federal Government service.
A portion of ASUU’s requests incorporate the arrival of revitalisation assets for colleges, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU understanding, arrival of procured stipends for college speakers, and organization of the UTAS installment stage for the installment of pay rates and recompenses of college instructors.
Protests against the decision
Some student demonstrations against the decision to extend the strike for an additional 12 months, and many expressed through social media sites their desire to end this strike that extended for months.
Ongoing protest at University of Lagos🥰🥰😊😊…
Let's come out to protest so we can end the #ASUU strike out voice too can be heard🤔#EndASUUStrike #EndASUUStrikeNow pic.twitter.com/AOCVOhqpPY— prudence_Daniels™🔱💋❤️✨💅 (@prudenceovlagos) May 9, 2022
