ASUU declares one week nationwide strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), yesterday in Abuja declared a one week nationwide warning strike which it says will be “total and comprehensive” beginning from Wednesday November 16th, following what it called the government’s failure to fully implement its 2009 Agreement with the Union.

ASUU President, Comrade Biodun Ogunyemi, who briefed a crowded press conference said after series of meetings with the Minister of Education and the National Assembly on the need to respect the 2009 Agreement and the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding, the Union has no tangible results on key issues contained in the Agreement.

He said “the nationwide strike is total and comprehensive, while it lasts, there shall be no teaching, no examination and no attendance at statutory meetings of any kind in any of our branches”

The Union also lamented the pattern of chronic underfunding which has characterized the education sector in recent times saying the low Budgetary Allocation to it education sector from 11% in 2015 to 8% in 2016 under the present Administration calls for worry.

He said “we tried to correct the impression that the capital and research grants to universities were being handled by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund on the grounds that grants from intervention agency cannot replace statutory funding of education at a time we believe allocation to education should be 26% as recommended ”

“Section 6.4a of the 2009FGN-ASUU Agreement provides that the areas of agreement would be renegotiated every three years”

“A renegotiation of the agreement by the parties would have afforded both the government of Nigeria and ASUU to bring up unresolved issues in the areas of conditions of service, funding, university autonomy and academic freedom ”

“our members have said they are tired of government’s empty promises on setting up its Negotiating Team for the review of Agreement ,as consistently requested by ASUU since 2012” Ogunyemi explained.

Comrade Ogunyemi further lamented that government is in arrears of the sum of 660billion naira, as at last quarter of 2016 and in respect of Needs Assessment fund for Revitalization of Public Universities.

“The 2013 FGN-ASUU MOU stipulates that to radically address the rot and decay in Nigeria’s public universities, the federal government would inject N200 billion in 2013 and N220B subsequently for 2014 and 2018”

The ASUU President stated that staff entitlements, issues of funding of Universities for Revitalization, issues of Nigeria Universities Pension Management Company ,University autonomy, Budgetary allocation to education and Renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement are key in the disputes as captured in the 2013 MoU and the 2009 Agreements with the government.

Speaking on the motive behind the warning strike, a former President of ASUU, Dr Fashina said the Union took the decision based on the Constitution of the University System.

“We have decided to stand we are not an affiliate of any political class ,our duty to our nation does not respect parties ,individuals or groups”