THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has began to warm up for another nationwide strike with a fresh directive from the national leadership of the union to its chapters across the country to declare a lecture-free day on Monday, February 7, 2022 preparatory to a face-off with the federal and state governments.
Premium Times, Abuja-based online newspaper, reports Saturday evening of sighting multiple circulars issued by ASUU chapters announcing the decision to declare the lecture-free day, which is intended to sensitise the university communities and the general public on the failure of the government to honour an agreement the parties entered into with ASUU in December 2020, before the suspension of then nine-month strike.
The newspaper also quoted ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke to have confirmed the directive to all its chapters to sensitise the public “on the nobleness of its cause”.
“We are going to have a meeting that day, we will invite as many people as possible to talk about the issue of Nigerian education,” he told our reporter in a telephone interview on Saturday.
The fresh threat comes days after President Buhari pledged his commitment to the agreement with ASUU; a pledge he made when members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) visited him to share with him their thoughts on the lingering issues. President Buhari had however pleaded with the union to exercise patience and consider current economic realities.
ASUU’s last nationwide strike began in March till December 2020 when the Memorandum of Action (MoA) was signed. But a year after the MoA’s signing, ASUU accused the government of failing to fulfil its side of the bargain and threatened to mobilise for another strike immediately. The government quickly moved and paid N55 billion as part-payment for the Earned Academic Allowance and Revitalisation Fund, but the union insisted on total fulfilment of the terms of the MoA until the Nigerian Inter-religious Council (NIREC) and other dignitaries waded in.
While stating that the federal government has only partially addressed two of its eight demands, including the visitation panel to federal universities, Prof Osodeke described the release of funds for the Earned Academic Allowance and revitalisation funds as ‘partial’.
“Out of all the nine or eight issues, they attempted one or two things, even the issue of the visitation panel they said they set up till now the result is not out after more than one year,” Prof Osodeke said.
Premium Times confirmed seeing circulars on lecture-free day from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto; Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and Bayero University, Kano, informing students of the lecture-free Monday on February 7.
In the circular, ASUU assured that its actions are in the best interest of the country’s university system, calling on all to join hands with ASUU in its struggle and save the system from collapse.
Parts of the statement from BUK, signed by Haruna Musa and Yusuf Madugu, chairperson and secretary, respectively, read: “ASUU-BUK wishes to inform all stakeholders that any action taken by ASUU would be in the best interest of the Nigerian university system. The union, therefore, urges all concerned to join hands with ASUU in order to salvage the system from imminent collapse by prevailing on the government to as a matter of urgency implement all the agreements it freely entered with ASUU”.
