The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike over the Federal Government’s alleged failure to fulfill agreements earlier reached with the union.
The Coordinator, Abuja Zone of the union, Dr Salahu Lawal, said this at a press conference in Gwagwalada on Wednesday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that ASUU had earlier embarked on strike over the alleged failure of the Federal Government to address all the agreements reached in the 2009 agreement it entered with it.
The union blamed the government for allegedly refusing to implement the famous Feb. 7, 2019 Memorandum of Action which contained important highlights of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.
Lawal said the union was not going into the signing of new agreements, nor enter into new negotiation, new memorandum of understanding/memorandum of action.
“The FG has refused to implement the noble proposals contained in that historic document. Here we are in 2022, more than one year since the suspension of the nine-month strike; we’re still waiting on the FGN to do the needful.
“It is needless to say that our members are sick and tired of the paying of lip service to the education sector.
“Consequent upon the foregoing, our great Union has in the past one month undertaken a comprehensive review of the FGN’s handling of our welfare (where a Professor takes a gross salary of 416,000 naira only).
“As a follow up, ASUU has commenced a one week campus-by-campus mobilisation, sensitization and conscientization of its members nationwide on the State of the Union with regard to our cardinal demands and next line of action.
“Barring any last-ditch positive response from the FGN, therefore, we are well prepared to declaring a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike soonest,” he said.
Lawal further said that the impending strike would be “beyond any watered-down release of funding for the revitalization of public universities and beyond any devalued and staggered payment of earned academic allowances.”
“We are not going into the signing of new agreement; neither new negotiation nor new memorandum of understanding/memorandum of action.
“We are at the point of reasonable action on the part of the government.
“We insist on the immediate and full implementation of our demands as contained in the December, 2020 MOA.
“And also insist on the immediate signing into law and implementation of the Renegotiated 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement as submitted by the Munzali Jibril Committee in May 2021,” he said. (NAN)
