Strike: ASUU Commences Two-day Meeting, Takes Final Decision On Sunday
The Academic Staff Union of Universities’ National Executive Committee will meet for two days at the University of Lagos, Akoka, on Saturday to finalize the union’s decision on an upcoming strike.
According to PUNCH, members of the ASUU NEC will make the ultimate decision on the strike – which will be reached by voting – at the end of the meeting on Sunday.
This comes amid claims that the federal government has refused to implement some of the union’s agreements dating back to 2009.
On November 15, 2021, ASUU issued a three-week ultimatum to the Federal Government for failure to meet the demands.
The danger of a new strike by ASUU was amplified this week, after the union’s direction to its branches to have lecture-free periods to educate the public about its demands and why another round of industrial action could be necessary.
As a result, the union declared Monday, February 9, 2022, a lecture-free day in order to mobilize its members ahead of what it described as the world’s longest strike.
Several union chapters embraced the instruction, holding several congresses in which they urged the public to hold the government accountable if the union went on strike.
The ASUU NEC will convene at UNILAG from February 12 (today) to February 13 to make a final decision on the approaching strike.
Meanwhile, if the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission fail to resolve the conflict between the Federal Government and ASUU, Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, has promised to intervene.
He said, “The Ministry of Education is their employer and we have handed over the necessary tools to them. The major issue with ASUU now is the deployment of UTAS which is under the purview of NITDA which is under the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy. The NUC also has its own role to play.
“My role is to play a reconciliatory officer. If their employers and the NUC fail to reconcile them, then I step in as the reconciliatory officer. It’s not more than that. But I know their employers are finding ways to resolve these issues.”
National President of Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, Danjuma Haruna, appealed to President Buhari to quickly intervene to dissuade ASUU from embarking on a fresh nationwide strike.
Haruna made this appeal in a statement on Friday, following recent threats of a fresh strike by many branches of ASUU.
The statement read in part, “Embarking on a new nationwide strike would definitely affect the educational system in the country. So many students would be forced to go home thereby increasing social vices in the country. Solving ASUU’s problems would help to improve the standard of education in all the universities across the 36 states of Nigeria.”
