WE CAN’T RULE OUT GOING ON NATIONWIDE STRIKE – ASUU

WE CAN’T RULE OUT GOING ON NATIONWIDE STRIKE – ASUU

Unless the Federal Government takes
immediate steps and addresses the
lingering contentious issues ith the
Academic Staff Union of Universities,
(ASUU) public universities in the
country may experience another round of nationwide strikes soon.

The Coordinator of Lagos Zone of
ASUU, which comprises seven
universities, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya,
expressed this position on Friday at a
news conference held at the University
of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka.

The Lagos Zone of ASUU consists of
UNILAG, the Lagos State University
(LASU), Ojo; Tai Solarin University of
Education (TASUED), ljagun-ljebu Ode;
the Ogun State University (OOU) Ago-
Iwoye; the Lagos University of Science
and Technology( LASUSTECH) Ikorodu; the Lagos University of Education (LASUED) Otto-ljanikin; and the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB).

Odukoya, who is also the Dean of the
Faculty of Social Sciences at UNILAG,
said it is disheartening that the Federal Government has not shown serious commitment all these years and also now to bring genuine development to the nation’s public university education.

He maintained that all the issues that
have been putting ASUU at loggerheads with the government have been in the best interest of Nigeria and its people, not ASUU members alone.

He said, unfortunately, the government would make their differences look to the public as if ASUU is fighting for its Own cause alone.

The don highlighted some of those
unresolved issues, including the non-
injection of revitalization funds as
agreed and also appropriated for in the 2023 Budget and in line with the
Needs Assessment Report into the
system, the proliferation of both
federal and state universities without
financial support, the prolonged delay
in renegotiation of their 2009
Agreement, and the continuous use of
“deceptive IPPIS” as an emolument
payment platform.

Others are the continuous delay in the
payment of their Earned Academic
Allowances, the continuous use of
Treasury Single Account (TSA) for
university operations, the non-full
payment of their eight-month withheld
salaries, the non-recall of sacked
ASUU officials at LASU five years ago,
and the non-release of the university’s
white paper on the 2021 Visitation
Panel.

He emphasised that these issues had
already pushed ASUU to the wall, and
the union may take the last option of
the labour-employer negotiation
process if that is the only option for
the government to wake up to.

He explained that ASUU had grown
tired of dwelling on the same number
of issues year in and year out,
negotiating and renegotiating, and
with mutual agreements reached and
signed on each occasion, but with the
government consistently reneging on
its own terms.

According to him, the state of public
universities in the country is
unpalatable, and it is required that the
political leaders take the matter very
seriously and address it.

He declared that the university
workers, particularly the lecturers, are
made to suffer to train their students,
and many of them go hungry and
cannot also afford to go to hospitals
when they are unwell.

Odukoya noted that virtually every
day, they lost one member or another
to avoidable deaths, adding that this is
the common situation across public
university campuses nationwide.

He, however, appealed again to the
Federal Government and President
Bola Tinubu in particular to take the
issues raised very seriously and
address them, as the union has
already been pushed to the wall and
may react in a way to shut down
academic activities in the nation’s
universities.

He also urged all lovers of good
education, including students, parents,
the media, the labour movement, civil.

Toluwani Shedrack

He Is The Founder And CEO Of I S P TECHNOLOGY EDUCATIONAL CONSULTS And MY EDUCATIONAL NEWS. A Brilliant Educational Consultant And Blogger, Passionate About Spreading Latest Educational News to the Audience.