ASUU gives FG more 14 Days ultimatum to resolve lingering issues
From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has given the Federal Government additional 14 days to resolve the lingering issues and other agreement reached between the two parties in 2009.
This was contained in a statement signed by the professor Abdulkadir Muhammad coordinator ASUU Kano zone and obtained from Comrade Dr Salim Ahmad, ASUU FUD Chairman who made it available to news men in Dutse Jigawa state.
The statement explained that some of the major concerns include the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN /ASUU Agreement, payment
of withheld salaries, release of revitalization fund, migrating Nigerian public universities
from the IPPIS to UTAS and payment of EAA.
“Let the general public note that, if the Federal Government fails to do so, it should be held responsible for any industrial unrest in Nigeria’s public universities”, the statement said.
According to the statement, Over the past four years, the Nigeria public universities have been in a state of industrial disharmony, leading to two costly and avoidable strike actions.
The nation had high hopes and expectations that the President Tinubu-led administration would swiftly resolve the contending issues that led to those strike actions. However, these hopes have been disappointingly dashed, resulting in seething discontents among our members whose patience has been overstretched.
The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has made several concerted efforts to dialogue with government officials, including the President, with a view to addressing the outstanding issues in the agreement and the various memoranda signed
between the Union and the Federal Government. Unfortunately, the Tinubu’s administration, like the Buhari’s, has been unyielding.
The nonchalant attitude of the administration to our legitimate and reasonable demands compelled the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU, following wide consultations, to convene a meeting at the University of Ibadan from 17th to 18th August, 2024, where it exhaustively deliberated on the contending issues and resolved to give a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government of Nigeria to address the issues but still no any responses.
The statement then, urges all patriotic Nigerians to prevail on the government to faithfully implement the outstanding issues in our agreement and memoranda. It is our hope that addressing these issues will go a long way in repositioning Nigerian public universities for global competitiveness.
