Tobi Adebayo
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that it extended the strike action due to the Federal Government’s “non-challant attitude” towards its demands.
The union, in a statement signed on Sunday, March 13th, announced that it had extended the strike by two months, starting from Monday, 14th March at 12:01 am.
Recall that ASUU had declared a one-month warning strike on 14th February over the FG’s refusal to meet its demands.
The statement read: “The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) held an emergency meeting on Sunday, 13th March 2022 at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, Abuja.
“The meeting was called to review developments since the Union declared a four week total and comprehensive roll-over strike action at the end of its NEC meeting at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos on 12th-13th February 2022.
“The strike action came on the heels of Government’s failure to satisfactorily implement the Memorandum of Action (MOA) it signed with the Union in December 2020 on funding for revitalization of public universities (both Federal and States), renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ ASUU Agreement, deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), Earned Academic Allowances, State Universities, promotion arrears, withheld salaries, and non-remittance of third-party deductions.
“NEC noted that the Union’s leadership has held some interactive meetings with agents of government in the last four weeks that the strike action had lasted.
“However, NEC was disappointed that Government did not treat the matters involved with utmost urgency they deserved during the four weeks as expected of a reasonable, responsive, and well-meaning administration.
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“NEC viewed Government’s response, so far, as a continuation of the unconscionable, mindless, and nonchalant attitude of the Nigerian ruling elite towards the proven path of national development which is education.
“NEC acknowledged the intervention efforts, in various ways, by patriots and friends of genuine national development (students, parents, journalists, trade union leaders, civil society activists etc.) to expeditiously resolve the crisis which-Governmen€s disposition had allowed festering. However, ASUU, as a union of intellectuals, has historic obligations to make governments honour agreements.
“NEC, having taken reports on the engagements of the Trustees and Principal Officers with the Government, concluded that Government had failed to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MOA) within the four-week roll-over strike period and resolved that the strike be rolled over for another eight (8) weeks to give Government more time to address all the issues in concrete terms so that our students will resume as soon as possible. The roll-over strike shall commence by 12.01 am on Monday, 14th March 2022.”
