Daily lens Report
After months of relative calm in Nigeria’s public university system, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced a two-week warning strike to protest the Federal Government’s failure to meet its long-standing demands.
The industrial action, scheduled to begin at midnight on Sunday, was declared by ASUU’s National President, Professor Chris Piwuna, during a press briefing in Abuja.
Piwuna said the decision followed the government’s inaction after the expiration of a 14-day ultimatum earlier issued by the union. He warned that if the government continued to ignore the lecturers’ demands, ASUU would escalate the action into a full-blown, indefinite strike.
“It is regrettable that nothing significant has happened since our last briefing on the eight issues in dispute,” Piwuna lamented, accusing the government of neglecting its obligations to the university system.
The key issues include:
Finalisation and signing of the renegotiated 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement
Payment of withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries
Sustainable funding and revitalisation of public universities
Non-victimisation of lecturers in LASU, KSU (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and FUTO
Settlement of 25–35 per cent outstanding salary arrears
Payment of promotion arrears spanning over four years
Release of withheld third-party deductions, including cooperative contributions and union dues
Meanwhile, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), a breakaway union from ASUU, has distanced itself from the strike.
In a statement, CONUA’s National President, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said its members would continue their academic activities, maintaining that there was no justification for a strike at this time.
The latest development rekindles fears of another disruption in Nigeria’s higher education calendar, barely months after universities resumed stability following previous industrial disputes.
