The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has sounded a warning that it may kick-start another industrial action in no distant time, should the federal government renege on the reached agreements.
ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, hinted while announcing the suspension of the union’s nine-month-old strike, Wednesday.
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According to Ogunyemi, the National Executive Council of the union met in Abuja to conditionally suspend the strike action embarked upon on March 23 with effect from 12am on Thursday.
Ogunyemi said “should government fail to fulfil its own parts of the agreement, ASUU will resume its suspended strike as deemed necessary.
“NEC resolved to accept the agreement reached between ASUU and the Federal Government on December 22 and to also consciously and diligently monitor the implementation of Federal Government-ASUU agreements of December 22 in all branches.
“NEC also resolved to ensure that no ASUU member suffered any loss of deserved benefits as a result of participation in the strike.”
Ogunyemi said that NEC would pursue fervently the areas in the Federal Government-ASUU agreement of 2009 and Memorandum of Action 2013 that required legislation.
He added that such included the mainstreaming of EAA into the annual budget and the Executive Bill in respect of the National Universities Commission Act, 2004.
He said: “Therefore the Implementation Monitoring Committee, which had already been constituted to the satisfaction of government and ASUU, will work diligently to ensure that funds released are used to meet genuine revitalisation needs of Nigerian public universities.
“This is with a strict and disciplined supervision of the implementation processes by the universities themselves.
“To this end the students and their parents would see the fruits of the struggles of ASUU in their lives.
“The union expects the immediate release of EAA as agreed, the mainstreaming of EAA into annual budget using the agreed formula.
“The union also expects government to immediately engage the universities and other research centres in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is one of the challenges that the universities have been asking the government to throw to Nigerian academics.”
He also said the union expects that government and ASUU re-negotiation exercise would be concluded as specified in the timeline agreed by both parties, among others.
“On our part we are going back to rekindle the motivation and aspirations in our members to strive to encourage our students to excel, in all the expectations that government will sincerely fulfil their own part of the bargain.”
The ASUU president also called on government to expedite action on the test processes and ensure the development of UTAS for the payment of salaries in the university system.
The software, according to him, will assist Government in its fight against corruption and bring about high stand of accountability in the education sector.
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