The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has pointedly warned Nigerians to hold the Federal Government responsible if it embarks on an indefinite strike.
This stern warning comes on the heels of the government’s alleged failure to honor the 2009 agreement reached with the union.
ASUU’s Bauchi Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Timothy Namo, made this declaration during a news conference in Jos.
He stated that despite the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting between August 17 and 18, which issued a 21-day ultimatum, the government has not addressed their concerns.
“At the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum, we again issued another 14-day ultimatum that commenced from September 23,” Namo said. “As we speak, the government has not honored any of the agreements or addressed our concerns.”
โSo, we want Nigerians to blame the federal government if ASUU decides to down tools and shut down public universities,โ he said.
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Namo highlighted the lingering issues as non-conclusion of the re-negotiation of the 2009 agreement, non-release of the three-and-half month salaries of academic staff, unpaid salaries of all academic staff on adjunct appointment, and outstanding third-party deductions.
Other lingering issues he said were poor funding for the revitalisation of public universities, non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) as captured in the 2023 budget, proliferation of universities, and nonimplementation of the reports of visitation panels to universities, among others.
