ASUU Strike Latest News 2022:The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has commenced a four-week nationwide strike. ASUU declared the strike on Monday, following a lengthy meeting that began on Sunday evening at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
is ASUU Strike For Real?
The National Executive Council, NEC, of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has voted to go on a one-month warning strike in order to press the government on its demands.
After lengthy deliberations that lasted into the early hours of Monday, the National Executive Council, NEC, of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, voted to go on a one-month warning strike to press the government on its demands.
We simply want to give the government a long rope in the hope that it will recognize the importance of avoiding a total shutdown of academic activities in the nation’s universities. We, too, are parents with children in the system, but we cannot stand by and watch the country’s education system crumble.
Our agitation is in the best interests of all, and if the system improves, we will all benefit. Several prominent figures in the country have weighed in on the issue, but the government appears obstinate. “Our National President will provide more details when he briefs the press later today,” he said.
ASUU lists 6 reasons for agitations, recurring strike
One of the lingering issues between the government and the union includes renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, which ASUU believed ought was meant to be reviewed every three years.
However, nine months after the renegotiation concluded in May 2021, ASUU said the government has refused to sign and implement the contents of the renegotiated agreement.
On the list is also the stalled implementation of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a replacement for the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), which is currently used to pay the salaries of union members.
Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, stated in December that the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) provided positive feedback on UTAS but that there are a few observations that need to be addressed.
ASUU, on the other hand, claimed that the IPPIS is riddled with flaws.
ASUU is also calling for governors to rein in the proliferation of state-owned universities, alleging that they owe staff salaries and university subventions, leaving universities with failing infrastructures.
Latest ASUU Strike News today 2022
ASUU president Emmanuel Victor Osodeke said the industrial action is “comprehensive and total”.
Osodeke earlier lamented that the union’s demands on the revitalization of public universities, earned academic allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) promotion arrears, renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, and inconsistencies in Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) payments have been neglected after meetings with Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige.
The union had also earlier issued a three-week ultimatum to the Nigerian government, nudging it to address all pending issues to avert another round of strike.
Checks showed that a number of universities already preparing for semester examinations are apprehensive. Students are particularly jittery, expressing fears that they may be forced to go home if ASUU makes good its threat to down tools.
Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), for instance, is billed to commence first semester examinations by the end of this month.
Also, UNILAG students were preparing to start their examinations after hosting the National University Games Association (NUGA) in March.
The latest strike action is a continuation of a nine-month strike that grounded academic activities 2020 for the same reasons.
The lecturers threatened to embark on another round of industrial action following the alleged “government’s unfaithfulness” in the implementation of the Memorandum of Action it signed.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently assured Nigerians that his administration would honor the agreements with ASUU to prevent lecturers downing tools in universities.
Buhari said the government “is committed to this engagement and dialogue, and I urge them to stay the course towards a joint resolution in the best interest of our children and nation.”
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