The Academic Staff Union of Universities has condemned the
Federal Government’s handling of the negotiation on its demands and nonchalant
attitude towards the ongoing strike.
The ASUU rollover strike is in its 10th week today and will
end in two weeks.
Last week, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige,
while featuring as a guest on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’, told the
union to meet with the Benimi Briggs Committee, saying the decision to suspend
industrial action embarked upon by ASUU could only be taken by the union.
On when the issue will be resolved, the minister had said,
“It depends on ASUU. The ball is in their court. They should go and meet the
Benimi Briggs Committee and look at what the committee is doing and make
further inputs so that the work can be accelerated.”
However, in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday,
the President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said it was shameful for Ngige
to tell the union to go and liaise with another party other than the
government.
He added that the union might have no choice but to roll
over the strike after its expiration.
He said, “The rollover ends in two weeks, and there is no
information, nothing new from the FG. They didn’t make any effort to get in
touch with us or seek ways of ending the strike.
“Our members will decide after two weeks what step to take.
We will meet. We are not begging them for discussion; they should invite us for
any meeting. That’s the way it should be. We are not on strike with Ngige or
Briggs but against the government, so why is he saying we should go and meet
one committee or one person? We are on strike against a system. Ngige just
talks without thinking. Are we on strike with a particular person?”
Some of ASUU’s demands include the release of revitalisation
funds for universities, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release
of earned allowances for university lecturers, and deployment of the UTAS
payment platform the payment of salaries and allowances of university
lecturers.
Similarly, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian
Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated
Institutions have extended their strike by one month.
National President, SSANU,
Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim; General Secretary, NASU Mr. Peters Adeyemi, stated
that it was unfortunate that the government kept mute and remained indifferent
to the unions’ demands.
Some of the items in the agreement JAC signed with the FG
are the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, payment of earned allowances,
usurpation on non-academic career positions by vice-chancellors, and inclusion
of university staff school into the university community, non-payment of
minimum wage arrears, and funding of state universities.
It read, “Deriving from the feedback received from our
branches in respect of the resolutions conducted which supported fully the
ongoing strike and other actions to be taken by the leadership of JAC, this is
to inform members that the strike has been extended by one month to commence on
midnight of Sunday, 24th April, 2022 pending when the government will have
change of heart and be favourably disposed to our demands as highlighted in our
letters dated 1st March, 2022 and 16th March, 2022 to the representative of the
government and the Honourable Minister of Labour & Employment.”
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