Strike: ASUU gives fresh update on resumption

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has faulted the claims by the Federal Government that it had met the demands of the union.

The ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan, Prof. Akinwole Ayoola, said on Monday that the Federal Government’s claims were lies.
The union stated that all its chapters that started the over six-month-old strike were still part of the ongoing action and were resolute to get what public universities needed from the government to survive and compete globally.

He said, “Nigerians should disregard the lies of the Federal Government. The Federal Government is far from meeting any of the union’s seven demands.

“The union gave 14-month strike notice to Federal Government before commencing the strike in 2022. Even the effort of the Nigerian Inter-Religious council in 2021 yielded no results before the union was forced to declare the strike on February 14, 2022.

“We waited for 14 months from December 2020 to February 2022 before declaring this strike. I am saying 14 months’ notice, 14months of engagements and the Nigeria Inter-Religious council intervened in 2021 when we would have declared the strike. We gave them one month with no result. Heroes are gone before they are appreciated but our union will not die. We will not die. We are going to be alive to see this struggle through.”

“Some sectors (research institutes) of the nation have been on strike for 13 months and the government has been paying their salaries. Is it an offence to become lecturers in Nigerian universities? What led to the strike? It is non-responsiveness of government that led to the strike.”