The Academic Staff Union of Universities has issued a fresh strike notice to the Federal Government. The notice states that the union will embark on strike in 21 days.
The new development was confirmed on Monday to journalists in Abuja. The agreement was reportedly reached by the Union after its National Executives Council Meeting, which was held at the University of Ibadan, Oyo State. A copy of the notice will reportedly be sent to the Federal government on Monday through the Federal Ministries of Labour and Education.
A source at the meeting who spoke to journalists explained that the union was not giving the federal government an ultimatum but a notice, which means the union will stay off work after the 21-day notice.
The source noted the union had decided to send the notice to the Federal Government because of the labour law. It is stipulated that the notice must be sent before a strike action; the source elaborated that the union was making sure that every action taken was under the law.
In the past months, ASUU has threatened to embark on strike, citing, among other reasons, the non-implementation of agreements reached with the federal government.
In a meeting with the ASUU members on June 26, 2024, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mammanv, intervened to avert any form of strike in the tertiary education sector. The meeting was used to discuss striking issues in the educational sector.
While speaking on the meeting’s outcome, the National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, explained that the agreements reached with the federal government have not been implemented.
He explained that at the meeting called by the minister of education, the team agreed that another will be convened in two weeks to assess the agreement’s progress.
He noted that the union will take action if the federal government fails to implement the agreement reached.
He listed ASUU’s demands, including implementing the 2009 re-negotiated agreements. He noted that the deal has been reached for almost six years now, but the federal government has failed to implement it, which is worrying.
He also noted that the federal government had failed to pay the union its academic allowances accumulated for over six years. He noted that the federal government had paid attention to the payment.
Prof. Osadeke also noted that the federal government had also agreed to pay the Needs Assessment Report to raise N200 billion yearly for five years but has failed to honour the agreement to this day.
