ASUU strike: Lecturers reveal what will make them call off industrial action

ASUU has demanded N1 trillion from FG to suspend its ongoing strike.

IDOMA VOICE reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has demanded the sum of one trillion naira from the Federal Government of Nigeria led by President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend its ongoing strike.

This online news platform recalls that ASUU announced a four-week “comprehensive and total” strike on Monday, February 14, 2022, Valentine’s day.

ASUU National President Prof Emmanuel Osodeke announced the one-month Asuu strike to journalists on Monday in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial city, after the National Executive Council(NEC) meeting of the union tagged ‘NEC for NEC.’

The ASUU President had said that the ASUU strike, which commences on Monday, February 14, 2022, would last for an initial period of four weeks.

Members of the union’s National Executive Council had held marathon meetings at the University of Lagos titled, ‘NEC for NEC’ after which the Asuu strike was declared.

Nigeria has 49 federal universities, 54 owned by state governments and 109 private ones. Federal universities are currently on strike while some state-owned are not part of the strike, the reason being that some major demands by ASUU are peculiar only to federal universities.

The issue of inadequate funding of the education sector cuts across all public universities, just like the dem and for better salaries and other conditions of service.

However, the issues of revitalisation fund and the controversial Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS, are peculiar to only federal universities since it is the FG that uses IPPIS to pay its workers and revitalisation fund is given by it to its universities.

Both federal and state universities are affected by the proliferation of universities, as some state governments, for instance, Abia and Delta grappling with the challenge of funding one university, are creating more.

The financial implications of the demands by ASUU run into billions of naira. For example, going by an agreement signed by the FG with the union, the government is expected to commit N200 billion annually for five years to the revitalisation of the sector.

To meet this segment of the ASUU demand, the Federal Government must cough out N1trillion, however, the best it did recently was the release of N30 billion as a sign of commitment.

In a tweet on Sunday afternoon, February 27, 2022, ASUU insisted that for it to call off the ongoing ASUU strike, FG must pay N1 trillion, a tweet which has since generated massive reactions from Nigerians.

ASUU tweeted: “ASUU to FG: Our Demand is #1trillion before strike will be suspended. #ASUUstrike”.