The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the union is forced to resume its strike, which was suspended in 2020, due to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s inability to resolve the contending issues between the union and the federal government.
This was contained in a press statement issued and signed by the ASUU Coordinator for the Kano Zone, Professor Abdulkadir Muhammad, and made available to Tribune Online in Dutse by the Federal University Dutse (FUD) ASUU Chairman, Comrade Salim Ahmed, in Dutse, Jigawa State capital.
According to the statement, “Over the past four years, our public universities have been in a state of industrial disharmony, leading to two costly and avoidable strike actions.”
“Though 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.”
Muhammad explained that these hopes have been disappointingly dashed, resulting in seething discontent among our members, whose patience has been overstretched.
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He noted that “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 administration, like the Buhari administration, has been unyielding.”
The coordinator pointed out that “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 them.”
The statement further indicated that the union’s demands include the release of outstanding third-party deductions, such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions; funding for the revitalization of public universities, partly captured in the 2023 national budget; non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), also partly captured in the 2023 national budget; non-payment of promotion arrears to deserving academic staff, some as far back as 2016; non-implementation of the reports of visitation panels to federal universities; refusal to deploy the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) software as a replacement for IPPIS; proliferation of universities by federal and state governments; and non-implementation of the 25/35% wage award to state universities, as mentioned in a communication to the government through the Minister of Education via a letter dated 20th August 2024.
Professor Muhammad added that “Two years ago, ASUU made concerted efforts through notices, emissaries (involving religious and traditional rulers), and even warnings to avoid strike action.
“Alas, all these were ignored. Consequently, ASUU had no option but to resume its strike suspended in 2020. We are exactly in a similar situation.
“However, the Tinubu administration has a golden opportunity to avoid the impending industrial crisis by resolving the contentious issues amicably.”
The ASUU Kano Zone therefore urges all patriotic Nigerians to prevail on the government to faithfully implement the outstanding issues in our agreement and memoranda.
