Why we extended strike by 12 weeks – ASUU President

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President Emmanuel Osodeke indicated that the union’s decision to extend its continuing strike for another 12 weeks was made to allow the Federal Government to address flaws in the agreement it had with it in specific terms.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the extension by another 12 weeks will result in pupils being at home for a total of 20 weeks.

Osodeke told NAN in an interview on Monday in Abuja that the extension was necessary since the Federal Government had failed to follow the deal reached with the union.

According to NAN, the union began a countrywide warning strike on February 14 to urge its members’ demands.

The first warning strike started on Feb. 14 for four weeks and the second strike commenced on March 15 for another four weeks, while the third one is announced on May 9 for another 12 weeks.

The lecturers’ demands include funding of the Revitalisation of Public Universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and promotion arrears.

Others are the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement and the inconsistency in Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System.

WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that the union during its last National Executive Council (NEC) meeting noted that it was disappointed that government had not treated the matters with utmost urgency they deserved and as expected of a reasonable, responsive, and well-meaning administration.

“NEC viewed government’s response so far as a continuation of the unconscionable, mindless and nonchalant attitude of the Nigerian ruling elite toward the proven path of the national development which is education.

“NEC, having taken reports on the engagement of the trustees and principal officers with the government concluded that government had failed to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action within the four-weeks-roll over strike period.

“NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for another 12 weeks to give government more time to address all the issues in concrete terms so that government will resume as soon as possible, ”it said.