The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a two-month ultimatum to the Federal Government to address all its outstanding demands or face severe consequences, including invoking the ‘no pay, no work’ policy.
This declaration was made on Tuesday during a press conference held by the Lagos State Zone of ASUU at the University of Lagos.
Speaking at the event, Zonal Coordinator, Adelaja Odukoya, emphasized that Nigeria was teetering on the brink of collapse.
He highlighted the union’s long-standing grievances and the government’s repeated failure to fulfill its promises.
“At our last NEC meeting on May 11 to 12, held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, we decided to give the government just two months to implement all our demands or else our union will rise powerfully in defence of the Nigerian public universities.
Nigeria is on the verge of collapse, and all of its parts are being pulled along with it by the type of leaders who control its political and administrative spheres,” Odukoya stated.
ASUU has consistently resorted to strike actions over the years to press for the implementation of its demands, which aim to improve the university system and the welfare of its teaching staff.
These demands include the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement, the release of withheld salaries and arrears of Earned Academic Allowances, adequate funding of universities, halting the proliferation of universities, and addressing issues with the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Odukoya declared that ASUU would not stand by and watch politicians who prioritize their interests over the development of Nigeria destroy public universities.
He warned that the union would vigorously defend the Nigerian people who are overburdened and excessively taxed.
“The university’s inadequate funding is intentional.
It is in tandem with the neoliberal agenda of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund which is to keep us perpetually backward and underdeveloped.
No surprise our universities are in a programmatic way being transformed into superfluous entrepreneurial establishments that process bread and pure water, rather than to citadels of innovation and creativity of advanced technology,” Odukoya remarked.
He explained that the renegotiated 2009 Agreement remains unsigned, with the government neither signing the document nor requesting a review.
“The refusal of the government to conclude the renegotiation indicates a lack of understanding of the profound nature of the document such that the government is now pretending that giving a salary award has now rested the matter,” he added.
Former chairman, ASUU-UNILAG, Dele Ashiru, also spoke at the event, stressing the urgency of the situation.
“In two months, if all of these outstanding issues are not implemented, the NEC will convey to take further actions.
We are here to draw government attention and alert the Nigerian people to the lacklustre nature of government response to the unresolved issues between the government and our union.
We put the people of Nigeria on notice that should there be a crisis in the university system, Bola Tinubu should be squarely held responsible.
One year is ample time to begin the process of rectifying the shortcomings of the APC-led Buhari administration,” Ashiru asserted.
