ASUU mulls strike extension, protests in cities

Indications emerged yesterday that the ongoing strike by university teachers might be extended once again.
The decision was reached at a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in  Abuja.

A member of the NEC, who made this known to  The Nation, said that ASUU  was displeased by the slow pace of progress in its negotiations with the  Federal Government.

“The Federal Government is not serious. Nothing concrete has come out of the meetings with them,” he said.

Yesterday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) announced that it had begun mobilisation of its members for a three-day warning strike.
The NLC  took the decision at a meeting with university-based unions in Abuja where a 21-day ultimatum was issued to the government to meet the demands of the unions.  The 21-day ultimatum was ratified by the National Executive Council of the NLC. The ultimatum ended on May 4, 2022.
Students in Lagos, Illorin and Owerri have resolved to take their protests against the strike to the streets, beginning from today.

The Nation gathered that the students decided to embark on a  peaceful march because there seems to be no end in sight to the strike, which is in its third month.
According to fliers trending on social media platforms, students in Lagos will gather at University Road Junction, Yaba today, while those in Ilorin will meet at the University of Ilorin gate tomorrow.  Imo State University (IMSU) students will protest on Wednesday.

On social media, hashtags such as #EndASUUstrike, #FGendASUUstrikeNow topped Twitter trends. Also banners with inscriptions such as ‘End ASUU strike now’, and ‘No to incessant strikes’, among others have since gone viral.

Workers in the research institutions under the auspices of the Joint Research and Allied Institutions Sector Unions (JORAISU) denied suspending their ongoing seven months strike.
 
General Secretaries of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Peters Adeyemi and Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASUR), Theophilus Ndubuaku made the clarification followed claims by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment that the strike had been suspended.
 
In a letter to the Chairmen, Secretaries and members of ASURI, Ndubuaku said the strike was still on.
 
According to him, the statement by the Ministry of Labour was a misconstruction of reality.
 
The statement reads: “As all our members know, ASURI is a signatory to the JORAISU strike which commenced on October 13, 2021.
 
“That strike has not been called off and we have no reason to direct our members to desist from participating in it
 
“The JORAISU strike is a sectoral struggle, so we cannot pull out of it unilaterally. The leadership of JORAISU is one and there is no division whatsoever,” he said.
 
The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) threatened to embark on strike over the failure of the Federal Government to release the N15 billion funds for revitalisation.
 
The union also frowned on the lack of progress in the re-negotiation of the COEASU-FGN 2009 FG agreement, as well as the use of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) to pay its members.
 
In a statement signed by its President, Smart Olugbeko, the union urged Nigerians to hold the government responsible for the impending industrial crisis across the entire College of Education system.