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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared a total and indefinite strike.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) held on Sunday in Abuja.
The union started its ongoing strike on February 14, 2022.
The strike is to protest against the government’s failure to release revitalisation funds for universities, failure to release the white paper report of the visitation panel to universities and the failure to deploy the University Transparency Accountability System (UTAS) for the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers.
The union’s President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, disclosed the outcome of the NEC meeting in a statement, on Monday.
In the statement, Osodeke said the NEC regretted that the union had experienced deceit of the highest level for over five years, adding that the government engaged ASUU in fruitless and unending negotiation without a display of fidelity.
“In view of the foregoing, and following extensive deliberations on government’s response to the resolution of February 14, 2022, so far, NEC concluded that the demands of the union had not been satisfactorily addressed. Consequently, NEC resolved to transmute the roll-over strike to a comprehensive, total and indefinite strike action beginning from 12.01am Monday, August 29, 2022.
“NEC acknowledges with appreciation past and current efforts by eminent Nigerians and groups to mediate in the lingering crisis. Our union remains open to reasonable engagements as we have always done.
“However, ASUU remains focused on the full implementation of the December 23, 2020 Memorandum of Action for quick restoration of industrial harmony in Nigeria’s public universities.
“NEC noted with pains, its concerns for Nigerians students who are also our wards and foster children and condemned government’s seeming indifference to their plights. Were it within our control, our universities would never have been shut for one day,” the statement read.
State varsities’ can’t be coerced- Pro-chancellors
Meanwhile, the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State Universities (COPSUN) has said state instituions cannot be coerced to implement the agreement reached between the Federal Government and lecturers in federal universities under the aegis of ASUU.
This was contained in a communiqué signed by the Secretary of the pro-chancellors, Marcus Awobifa, and made available to newsmen, on Monday.
Some state universities have come under fire over their failure to pull out of the ongoing strike declared by the ASUU leadership.
The pro-chancellors noted that there was the need for the democratisation of membership of unions in universities.
“The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of state-owned universities read with alarm and disbelief a statement made by the President of the ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodike, on a television programme, where he said state universities are ‘irrelevant and quacks’ on August 26, 2022.
“Our first reaction was to ignore this tendentious, ill-conceived and flagrant unconscionable statement by the President of ASUU, but on reflection, it was thought necessary to do a rejoinder to this rather unfortunate statement having regard to the position of the President of ASUU in the scheme of things in our university system in Nigeria.
“Though COPSUN will not want to go into any diatribe with the President of ASUU, the Committee wishes to state as follows to put records straight:
“That the Pro-Chancellors of our state universities and indeed members of the councils are distinguished and accomplished eminent persons who had served and still serving this nation in many capacities. Amongst the members are retired Ambassadors, retired Generals in the Armed forces, retired Vice-Chancellors, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, renowned politicians and other distinguished professionals.”