ASUU gives FG final warning before strike

Academic staff Union of Universities (ASUU) turned to Nigerians Friday to appeal to the Federal Government to honour the MoA and MoU signed with it.

Various zones of ASUU made the appeal on Thursday and Friday as its three-week ultimatum given 15 November expired.

Professor Oyebamiji Oyegoke, who is the coordinator of the Ibadan zone of the union said the union has been pushed to the wall over the non-implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MoA) reached with the government in 2020.

He explained that the union was planning another strike because of the failure to fully implement the MoA.

Oyegoke spoke at a meeting of the zone in Ilorin.

The zone comprises University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osun State University, and Kwara State University.

The Yola Zone also appealed to well meaning Nigerians to appeal to government to fulfil its promise.

Dr Reuben Jonathan, the coordinator told mediamen at the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) that the government should be held responsible for the imminent strike.

“Though education is an inalienable right of every Nigerian child, we are aware that due to the flagrant neglect and frustration of Nigerian public universities, government functionaries are deliberately denying the poor Nigerian children access to university education as their children are secured in private universities all over the world.

“We, therefore, call on the general public and concerned citizens to save public universities by compelling the government to honour its agreements,” said Jonathan.

Abuja zone of ASUU addressed the media on Thursday.

Dr Salahu Lawal, the coordinator said the Federal Government has yet to respond to its demands after the expiration of its three-week ultimatum.

He said government by its intransigence, was paving way for another strike by the union.

He explained that government was doing this by ignoring outstanding issues in the MoU of December, 2020, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed with the union in February 2019.

The zone comprises Federal University of Lafia, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, and the University of Abuja.

“Our union finds it highly hypocritical for a government to freely sign MoU or MoA to get ASUU to suspend a strike and then turn around to ignore their implementation.

“More than one year since our union suspended the nine-month long national strike, the Federal Government is yet to respond to key demands,’’ he said.

“Our demands remain the full implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement as renegotiated in 2021, based on ILO’s collective bargaining principles.

“The implementation of all outstanding provisions in the February 2021 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action.

“The immediate deployment of ASUU’S innovation of a more robust system of human resource management and compensation, called the UTAS.

“Immediate payment of outstanding Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) and promotions arrears to our members.

“Immediate release of the report of the Presidential Visitation Panels to federal universities in 2021.

“Immediate action on the recommendations of the Committee on State Universities,’’ Lawal added.

According to him, meeting these demands of ASUU will go a long way to address the deplorable conditions in which varsity students live and learn.

Lawal called on relevant stakeholders to impress it on the government to honour its agreement with the union to avert another likely industrial crisis in Nigerian universities