The Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) has declared a total and indefinite strike.
The choice was made at a Sunday in Abuja gathering of the union’s National Executive Council.
According to The PUNCH, the union began its current strike on February 14, 2022.
The strike is being held in opposition to the government’s refusal to release funds for university revitalization, the white paper report of the panel’s visit to universities, and the failure to implement the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of lecturers’ salaries and benefits.
ASUU strikes are to safeguard public universities, according to the union’s president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who released the results of the NEC meeting in a statement on Monday.
Osodeke stated that the NEC regretted that the union had endured the highest level of dishonesty for more than five years and that the government had dragged out pointless negotiations with ASUU without showing any sign of loyalty.
In light of the aforementioned and after careful consideration of the government’s answer to the resolution of February 14, 2022, NEC came to the conclusion that the union’s requests had not been satisfactorily met. NEC decided to change the roll-over strike into a full-scale, all-out, indefinite strike action starting at 12.01 a.m. on August 29, 2022.
“NEC appreciates the past and present efforts made by notable Nigerians and organisations to mediate in the ongoing conflict. Our union is still accepting legitimate agreements as long as
ASUU is still committed to fully implementing the December 23, 2020 Memorandum of Action in order to quickly restore labour peace in Nigeria’s public universities.
“NEC painfully underlined its concerns for Nigerian students who are also our wards and foster children and denounced the government’s seeming disregard for their condition. Our universities would not have been closed for a single day if it had been within our power.
The strike has been extended, and the leadership has decentralised the communication line, according to a member of the NEC who asked to remain anonymous because he is not the union’s spokesman. The public and the media must be more actively involved if we are to inform them of the struggles of ASUU
State varsities’ pro-chancellors
The agreement negotiated between the Federal Government and academics in federal institutions under the auspices of ASUU cannot be forced upon state universities, according to a statement made on Monday by the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State Universities.
The pro-chancellors also emphasised the necessity of democratising union membership at universities.
According to The PUNCH, certain state institutions have come under pressure for continuing the strike that has been called by the ASUU national leadership.
The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-owned Universities read with alarm and disbelief a statement made by the President of the ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodike, on a television programme, where he said state universities are “irrelevant and quacks,” on August 26, 2022, according to a communiqué signed by the Secretary, Marcus Awobifa, and made available to The PUNCH on Monday.
Our initial response was to ignore the President of ASUU’s tendentious, poorly thought-out, and blatantly unconscionable statement, but after some thought, we decided that it was necessary to respond to this rather unfortunate statement in light of the President of ASUU’s position within the Nigerian university system.
Although COPSUN does not desire to engage in a debate with the leader of ASUU, the Committee would like to clarify the following:
“That the provosts of our state universities and, in fact, the council members are illustrious and talented people who have served and are now serving this country in a variety of roles. Former vice chancellors, retired generals in the military, retired ambassadors, senior Nigerian attorneys, well-known politicians, and other eminent professionals are among the members.
