ASUU Strike: ASUU Gives FG New Deadline, Threatens Strike Action
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has again indicated that if the federal government does not implement it’s Memorandum of Action, MoA, by January ending, they will likely shut down universities.
Speaking with Vanguardngr in an interview, the Union’s president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the union was waiting for the period of grace given to lapse before taking the necessary steps.
“As a responsible union, we are consulting widely on the issues at stake. We have an MoA that is yet to be implemented fully and we also have the renegotiation of the 2007 Agreement pending. A lot of groups and concerned individuals have stepped in to intervene in the matter.
“We are responsible unionists and citizens and we must give room to those interventions; may be they can help persuade the government to do the needful. We have given them up till the end of this January and if nothing is forthcoming, we can take the next step,” he said.
It was gathered that if the union’s demands are not met, nationwide mobilisation of members would follow and congresses held to mandate the national leadership to act appropriately.
Recall that the MoA came into being following the suspension of a nine-month strike by the union in December 2020. The issues in contention include funding for the revitalisation of the universities and the payment of Earned Academic Allowance which the government has fulfilled
LATEST AS AT 17TH JAN., 2022 ⬇️
Following the intervention of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said that it will wait till February for the outcome of the mediatory talks between the federal government and the religious body.
The 50-member NIREC, under the Co-chairmanship of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III; and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, is also backed by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Bishop Mathew Kukah, among other Christian and Muslim leaders.
ASUU had resolved to embark on industrial action to compel the federal government to meet its demands.
However, following the intervention of NIREC, ASUU had opted to go for more consultations and to give the government a few days within January 2022 to address all outstanding issues arising from the December 2020 Memorandum of Action (MoA).
But ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodake, told newsmen yesterday that the union had agreed to wait till February, adding that it has also submitted its position to NIREC which promised to help mediate and resolve the issues.
“ASUU leadership has agreed to wait till February to give NIREC and other stakeholders enough room to address the union’s grievances,” he said.
The decision of ASUU to suspend action till February is seen as bowing to pressure from prominent Nigerians and the leadership of NIREC comprising of the Sultan of Sokoto, the president of the CAN and other stakeholders.
