ASUU may soon embark on an indefinite strike over the alleged failure of the federal government to implement agreements they had
Dele Moses, Ilorin
A hint that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may soon embark on an indefinite strike over the alleged failure of the federal government to implement agreements between it and the union has come from the Ibadan zone of the union.
The coordinator of the zone, Prof. Oyebamiji Oyegoke, said the government had not demonstrated any commitment to show that it was serious about the implementation of the agreements.
He spoke with newsmen in Ilorin on the sidelines of the celebration of Human Rights Day on December 10.
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The Union used the occasion of the Day to press home full implementation of the 2020 MoA agreement comprising (i) Funding for Revitalization of Public Universities) Payment of Earned Academic Allowancesiii) Withheld Salaries and Promotion Arrearsiv) Renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement(v) Inconsistencies in IPPIS Payment(vi) University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
Oyegoke said the ASUU was not interested in using the strike as the only tool to fight its course and on the people of the country to intervene before industrial action is resorted to.
“Our baseline is a full implementation of the 2020 MOA agreement freely signed between the federal government and the union. This calls for a lot of concern. There’s no commitment to an agreement entered into. Government is not sensitive to the welfare of workers. That’s why we’re using these channels to sensitize people so that they don’t see us as using the strike as the only tool of fighting for our demands.
“While we commend interventions of notable Nigerians in the matter, however, it should be stated here that it is about actions and not deliberations. These are no new demands. Some of our members have not been paid a salary since December last year and they’re still working. It shows commitment on our part”, he said.
Professor Oyegoke, who accused the federal government of insincerity in fulfilling its part of the agreement, condemned piecemeal implementation of the contentious issues in the MoA of 2020.
“Selective treatment of issues in dispute instead of a comprehensive approach will no longer be acceptable to our members, We shall no longer take the issue of welfare of our members for granted. Any treatment of MoA of 2020 that precludes its full implementation and rejection of IPPIS will be incomplete. If it has taken ASUU’s position of resuming a suspended strike action to rouse the government from its sleep of non-implementation of the MoA of 2020, one needs to ask, how many of such reminders should ASUU give before its demands are met?
“It is on the basis of the failure of government to meet up with the promises made as attested to in the MoA of 2020 that the union is calling on Nigerians to intervene at this critical moment.
“The demands of the union are realistic and holistic in the common interest of the country’s educational and developmental pursuits. If nothing is done, we will be left with no other choice than to withdraw our services until reason prevails. The government of the day has demonstrated its intention to embarrass our collective resolve to save university education from total collapse. ASUU cannot succumb to this insensitive disposition.
“As we celebrate Human Rights Day today, December 10, we recall the declaration of 1948 which acknowledged the struggles of the oppressed people around the world. So we use this opportunity to ask the Nigerian government to respect the rights of the people to education and decent working conditions,” he stated.