Comprehensive, Indefinite Strike inevitable unless… ASUU Warns

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday said it is well prepared to declare a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike soonest.

Rising from its congress meeting in Abuja, the Zonal Coordinator of Abuja ASUU Zone, Dr. Salahu Lawal, said it is not going into the signing of new agreement or Memorandum of Understanding or Action with the Federal Government.

The Union blamed the government for the blatant refusal to implement the famous 7th February 2019 MoA, which contained important highlights of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement and aggregated the cardinal arguments of the 2012 and 2013 MoUs and the 2017 MoA.

It also blamed the government for failing to implement the December 2020 MoA which signing ended the longest strike in the history of our nation.

Laval said only the complete implementation of the December, 2020 Memorandum of Action and the signing into law of the Re-negotiated 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement as submitted by the Munzali Jibril Committee in May 2021 will prevent the union from going on strike.

He said: “Only an insensitive government would refuse to implement the noble proposals contained in that historic document. Here we are in 2022, more than one year since the suspension of the nine-month strike, still waiting on the FGN to do the needful.

“It is needless to say that our members are sick and tired of this manner and level of irresponsibility, insensitiveness and paying lip service to the education sector.

“Consequent upon the foregoing, our great Union has in the past one month undertaken a comprehensive review of the FGN’s handling of our welfare (where a Professor takes a gross salary of 416,000 naira only); level of implementation of our agreements and timelines, and lackadaisical attitude to tertiary education in Nigeria.

“As a follow up, ASUU has commenced a one week campus-by-campus mobilisation, sensitisation and conscientization of its members nationwide on the State of the Union viz a viz our cardinal demands and next line of action.

“Barring any last-ditch positive response from the FGN, therefore, we are well prepared to declare a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike soonest.”