ASUU finally declares one-month warning strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Monday declared a one-month warning strike.

Emmanuel Osodeke, President of the Union announced this at a press conference after a two-day meeting of its National Executive Council (NEC).

Osodeke said the industrial action, which begins immediately, is “comprehensive and total”.

Some of the lecturer’s demands included the revitalisation of public universities, earned allowance, improved funding of state universities, and promotion arrears.

Others are the replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with its own University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in the payment of emoluments to its member.

Before this  move, the union had earlier embarked on a sensitisation campaign across campuses in the country, leading to lecture-free periods. ASUU also added that the 2009 agreement reached with the Federal Government ought to be reviewed every three years. But the union said since the deal was renegotiated, the Federal Government has failed to sign and implement the contents.

In 2020, ASUU had embarked on a nine-month strike over the government’s failure to honour its part of the deal. The lecturers, however, called off the strike after a series of meetings with the Federal Government.

Following the suspension, the Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Chris Ngige, had vowed not to allow the lecturers to go on strike again.

“I will not give ASUU the opportunity to go on strike because I have three biological children that suffered from this imbroglio that we found ourselves in and about 15 people on my scholarship in Nigerian universities,” the Minister said days after the lecturers suspended the strike.

However, in November, ASUU issued a three-week ultimatum to the government over the handling of the deal.