Asuu strike .......!!!!!!

The Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) has threatened to
embark on a nationwide strike to press
home its demands for the
implementation of its 2009 agreement
with the Federal Government.
The ASUU Lagos Zone Coordinator,
Prof. Olusoji Sowande, said this at a
news conference on Tuesday in
Lagos.
Sowande said that the union was
planning to toe this part after several
efforts to ensure that the government
address the pending demands,
proved abortive.
He said that the 2009 FG/ASUU
agreement, Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) on funding of
state universities, breaches of the
conditions of service and re-
negotiation of the agreement, were
still pending.
The coordinator also mentioned
other demands like the exclusion of
Nigerian universities from Pension
Management Company and non-
release of NEEDS Assessment
Intervention Fund.
He said that funding of state
universities, earned academic
allowance and renegotiation of the
agreement were parts of the
outstanding issues.
Sowande recalled that the union had
embarked on strike in 2012 and 2013
as part of the efforts to make the
government implement the
agreement, adding that the issues
remained unresolved.
He said that the 2009 agreement
provided for a periodic review after
every three years which had not
been done.
“The review of the agreement should
have been undertaken in 2012 and
2015 but that did not happen.
“The implication is that our union
has shown enough patriotism and
understanding on these matters in
the last four years.
“We are perplexed and disappointed
that both the Federal and State
Governments are not responding to
our consistent appeals to bring about
genuine transformation in the
education sector, ‘’ he said.
According to him, embarking on
strike has never been a favourable
choice as the Students and ASUU
members have always suffered the
pains more.
“It is unfortunate that the only
language government appears to
respect and listens to is that of
industrial action like strike,”he said.
The don said that the National
officers of the union had met with
the Minister of Education, Malam
Adamu Adamu on May 10 and tabled
ten-point demand.
He said that the minister had
promised that the issues would be
resolved within two weeks but nothing
had been done till now.
Sowande said that based on MOU
signed in November 2013, “Nigerian
universities requires N1.3 trillion to
revitalise the system’’, adding that
the government was already in
arrears of N605 billion as at the
third quarter of 2016.
He said that the government had
refused to release N128 billion and
N250 billion respectively for the
earned academic allowance of three
years after the MoU was signed.
“In order to forestall this avoidable
crisis, we appeal to all genuinely
progressive individuals and groups
to prevail on both the Federal and
State Governments to commence
release of funds for the listed
purposes.
“This is to arrest the brewing and
potentially combustible situation in
the Nigerian university system
before it degenerated into a serious
conflagration,” he said.