ASUU issues 14-day ultimatum, threatens to shutdown universities

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to resolve the long-standing issues affecting the nation’s university system or risk a nationwide shutdown of public universities.

ASUU said the ultimatum followed years of neglect and government’s consistent refusal to address its demands.

According to a statement signed by Christopher Piwuna, its President, the resolution was reached at the just concluded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Abuja.

The union in the statement, said it could no longer guarantee industrial harmony in the sector if urgent action was not taken.

“Accordingly, ASUU has given the Federal Government of Nigeria an ultimatum of fourteen (14) days within which to address these issues. If at the end of the fourteen days ultimatum, the Federal Government fails to address these issues, the Union may have no option than to, first, embark on a two-week warning strike and thereafter, a total and indefinite strike,” the statement read.

The union explained that it had repeatedly drawn attention to the declining state of universities in Nigeria through rallies, press briefings, and media engagements, but these efforts had yielded no tangible result.

It lamented that both Federal and State governments have shown “a strong habit of paying little or no attention to the education sector in general and the welfare of university academics in particular.”

For over 16 years, ASUU said it had been highlighting the issues affecting Nigerian universities without lasting solutions from government.

“It is over sixteen years now since ASUU has brought these issues to the media and the public domain. It means, therefore, that these issues are not new to you and the general public,” the statement noted.

The issues, according to the union, include the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding and revitalization of universities, outstanding 25-35% salary arrears, non-promotion of academics for over four years, unresolved third-party deductions, and alleged victimization of members in LASU, Prince Abubakar Audu University (formerly KSU), and FUTO.

The lecturers maintained that their agitation was not for selfish reasons but for the survival of public universities.

“For the past three months, ASUU has mentioned these issues at both the National, Zonal and Branch levels. For the past three months, these issues have been debated and combated in the media and other platforms,” the union stressed.

While expressing confidence that Nigeria has the resources to fix the crisis, ASUU called on stakeholders to mount pressure on government to act before it was too late.

“ASUU is confident that the Nigerian leadership has the capacity to fix Nigerian Universities once and for all. ASUU also believes strongly that the Nigerian Government has the financial strength to tackle the problem of University education in Nigeria,” the union said.

Warning that the ultimatum was a final alarm, ASUU urged parents, students, religious leaders, and traditional rulers to intervene.

“The fourteen (14) days ultimatum therefore is an alarm to the Nigerian Government and ASUU as a Union believes that the Government has the muscle to avert this looming strike. As they say in English: a stitch in time saves nine,” the statement concluded.