The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has berated the Federal Government over its posture towards the agitations of the union saying, “Over three weeks into its current strike, the response of the FGN has been, to say the least disappointing.”
The Union called the attention of Nigerians to the manner in which the government is further, and recklessly deepening the crisis of youth underdevelopment by sabotaging FGN-ASUU 2009 agreement in demanding a modest condition of service and salary upgrade.
Speaking at a conference, the Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan (UI), branch, Professor Ayoola Akinwole said, “Our students are further put in precarious conditions each time the government reneges on its promise to upgrade the condition of service of workers. Such unpatriotic, deceitful moves by this regime would always trigger a strike. And aside the fact that undue delay is forced on University calendars, leading to an unending payment of exorbitant private hostel bills, some students end up not returning to conclude their work. This bleeds our hearts as scholars.
“The most recent confirmation of government’s anti-people stance is shown in the current step by the Buhari regime to play deaf to the Implementation of an agreement both government and ASUU had carefully nursed for Implementation for over ten years.
And since government is playing pranks with ASUU, it may as well be necessary and urgent for Nigerians to rise in their teeming millions in order to rescue the future of education and development from rulers who have turned against their people. Nigerians must uncompromisingly and democratically rise to rescue public education NOW.”
For avoidance of doubt, the Union lists their demands from the Federal Government to include, the sign and commence immediate implementation of the already concluded Renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement, Implement all outstanding provisions of the MoA signed with our Union on the 23rd day of December, 2020, and Release of the White Papers on the Visitation Panels sent to Federal Universities.
Others are: “Deployment of the University Transparency and accountability Solution (UTAS), The locally developed pay platform by ASUU which is a cost-effective alternative with distinct capacity to check corruption and preserve the hard-earned autonomy of Nigerian Universities, Mainstreaming of the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) into the annual federal budget as agreed to by the FGN in the various memoranda signed with ASUU, Urgent consideration and passage of the Bill to amend the National Universities Commission (NUC) Act with a view to empowering the NUC to address the problems of proliferation and under-funding of State Universities and Immediate payment of Earned Academic Allowances to our union members in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in line with the established procedure and stipulated guidelines.
The Union equally demanded that the immediate stoppage of victimisation of academics in some state universities, viz; Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Abia State University (ABSU), Kogi State University (KSU), Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma (AAUE) and few others.
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