Yet again, university students in Nigeria will be going on an unwanted holiday as the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, begins a nationwide indefinite strike.
The decision to strike was taken at the National Executive Council, NEC meeting of the union which took place over the weekend at the University of Abuja. ASUU National President Comrade Biodun Ogunyemi has declared a nationwide strike to commence Today.
According to Ogunyemi in a document titled, “Strike Bulletin No.1”, the strike is to be a total, comprehensive and indefinite action whereby no form of academic activities, including teaching, attendance of any meeting, conduct and supervision of any examination at any level, supervision of project or thesis at any level should take place at any of the nation’s universities.
ASUU President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi
In the bulletin signed by Ogunyemi, it was recalled that ASUU had to embark on a six month strike between July and December 2013 and the strike was suspended when government signed an MoU with the union.
“Of all the items contained in the MoU, only the N200b out of a total of N1.3tr of the Public Universities Revitalisation (Needs Assessment) fund was released,. The union also embarked on a one week warning strike in November 2016 to press for the implementation of 2013 MoU. However government did not implement the understanding reach between the union and Federal Government base on the intervention by the leadership of Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Stating further, Ogunyemi said “The union has also met with the 2009 Agreement Implementation Monitoring Committee, IMC, and had written several letters press releases and communiqués on the outstanding issues to no avail. The National Executive Council, NEC, of ASUU then met at the University of Abuja on August 12, 2017 to consider the result of a referendum from all branches in a bid to ascertain ways of convincing government to implement outstanding aspects of the 2009 and the MoU of 2013”.
Ogunyemi listed the outstanding issues with the Federal Government to include: payment of fractions/non-payment of salaries; non-payment of earned academic allowances, non releases of operational license of NUPEMCO; non implementation of the provisions of the 2014 pension reform act with respect to retired professors and their salaries, removal of universities staff schools from funding by government and funds for the revitalisation of public universities.
