Fresh Strike Looms As ASUU Meets Over Shoddy Treatment Of Demands

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), have said they may be forced to embark on a nationwide strike, over what they described as dissatisfaction with the way their demands are being handled by the states and federal government.

A statement signed by the president of the union, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, said the decision was reached after a meeting of its national executive council.

According to him,  so far, no meaningful efforts by governments have been made to address their demands in the last ten years.

Some of the demands he listed include, the sanctity of legally constituted Governing Councils,  review of the 2009  federal government and ASUU agreement, revitalisation fund for public universities, payment of all earned academic allowances, including withheld salaries, and promotion arrears.

Other issues are alleged illegal recruitments in the universities; the proliferation of public universities, and the continued usage of the treasury single account (TSA) and new Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

He added that the union will reconvene after two weeks, beginning on Saturday, to review the situation and take decisive action to address the issues.

The development comes after President Bola Tinubu in January, approved the disbursement of over N683bn as a 2024 intervention fund for public tertiary schools in the country.

Also in January, FG approved the disbursement of N5.1bn for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund 2023 Grant Cycle.