ASUU declares lecture-free day

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, may soon shut down all public universities over the inability of the Federal Government to implement agreements the two parties entered into in December 2020, which led to the suspension of a nine-month prolonged strike.

Recall that the union shut down academic activities in public universities during an indefinite strike which lasted from March till December 2022 when the Memorandum of Action (MoA) was signed as FG agreed to meet their demands.

However, 12 months after the industrial action was suspended, ASUU has accused the Federal Government of failing to fulfil its side of the agreement and threatened to mobilize for another strike immediately if the government failed to cooperate.

The union, in late 2021, embarked on consultation among its members nationwide to decide whether to shut down academic activities over alleged negligence by the government though lectures and other activities continued in the universities until date amid reports that the union and the FG, on October 18, reached an agreement after a meeting with the government, led by the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, and the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba and presided by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila on the N22.17 billion earned allowances and N30 billion revitalization fund for public universities.

Apart from the earned allowance and revitalization fund, another contending issue is a remuneration payment platform, as the union proposed the University Transparency, Accountability Solution, UTAS, while the FG insisted on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, as a payment platform for all federal workers.

In his words:

“There would be a lecture-free day in some branches on Monday 7th February 2022 to enable members have urgent meetings. And if the Federal Government fails to do the needful, the Union will have no choice but to embark on an indefinite strike. Because the Federal Government has ignored the implementation of some agreements the two parties entered into in 2020. So after the meeting, we are going to interact with the public and the students to tell them what is ongoing and what they should expect if the issues are not properly handled by the Federal Government.”