The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has threatened to embark on another nationwide strike to protest absence of governing councils in all federal universities across the country among other issues the government is yet to address.
The body which recalled that the federal government dissolved governing councils of the universities in May,last year,has asked Nigerians to hold the government responsible for any decision it takes to protest the action of government.
President of ASUU,Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke,spoke at a press conference ,Tuesday,in Abuja, said the union rejected all the “ongoing illegalities and flagrant violation of university autonomy in public universities as a result of non reinstatement/reconstitution
of Governing Councils.”
Osodeke insisted that Nigerians must hold the federal and state governments responsible if the matter of governing councils was allowed to degenerate into an avoidable industrial crisis.
The latest ASUU statement came following its National Executive Council,NEC meeting, held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, between Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May, 2024.
At the meeting, the union undertook a dispassionate and comprehensive review of the status of its engagements with Federal and State Governments on how to reposition Nigeria’s public universities for global reckoning and competitiveness
The meeting also took a critical look at the worsening living and working conditions in universities and the nation at large.
Osodeke said the meeting received alarming reports on the failed promises of the Federal and State governments towards addressing the lingering issues that forced the union to embark on the nationwide strike action of February-October 2022.
He said:”As our union has consistently stated, salary awards are no substitutes for a negotiated Agreement. Each negotiated Agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria (FG) and ASUU is a comprehensive package that captures not the just salary component but also a gamut of requirements for benchmarking a competitive university system designed for addressing the developmental challenges of Nigeria.
