Why strike must continue, by ASUU

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday said it has resolved to continue its ongoing strike to ensure government shows more commitment to the education sector as well as improve welfare of workers.

According to the union, getting revitalisation fund and unpaid earned academic allowances, ensuring government sets up and conduct visitation to universities, addressing proliferation of state universities and issues of governance in them as well as the conclusion of the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement must be resolved if the strike must be called off.

ASUU President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, made the disclosures in a ‘Strike Bulletin 9’ he signed, which was also made available to newsmen by chairman, University of Ibadan Chapter, Professor Ayo Akinwole.

The ongoing ASUU strike is in its 13th week.

Ogunyemi noted the speedy completion of the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement will birth new conditions of service, enhanced salaries for academics and improved infrastructure for Nigerian public varsities, warning that “efforts by agents of government to derail the strike through deflection of IPPIS contraption and denial of salaries have failed because the Union was fighting a just cause.”

The ASUU leader stressed members have remained resolute to getting a better working environment and conditions of service despite unpaid salaries of thousands of academics by the Federal Government and payment of distorted and amputated salaries to thousands of ASUU members.

According to him, the 11-year- old current “slave-like salary structure” which was agreed in 2009 started in 2006 before it was concluded.

While assuring members that issue surrounding the payment of distorted or withheld salaries would be resolved, he maintained that the current strike was to ensure that Nigerian children attend the best public varsity education and have the best of facilities and infrastructure that can compete globally.

Ogunyemi further lashed out at governments for adopting what it called herd-immunity approach to the fight against Covid-19 pandemic just as it appealed to ASUU members to “intensify community information, education, communication to support and promote the guidelines as well as deepen research and innovation activities in the community transmission phase of Covid-19”.