Ultimatum: ASUU seeks National Peace Committee’s intervention to avert strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has appealed to the National Peace Committee to wade into the lingering issues between it and the Nigerian government to avert the impending strike planned to commence in October.

The Lagos Zone of the union made the appeal on Sunday in a statement signed by the Coordinator, Adelaja Odukoya, a professor of Political Science.

ASUU and the Nigerian government are at loggerheads over the union’s unmet demands by the government.

On Monday, the union issued a 14-day ultimatum for the government to address its demands. This followed a previous 21-day strike notice which it announced at the end of its National Executive Council meeting on 18 August.

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, also a professor, had met twice with the union between 28 August and 6 September. However, the union said the government’s moves were not satisfactory, prompting Monday’s fresh ultimatum.

ASUU asks Nigerians to prevail on government

According to the union the recent interactions with the government, allegedly characterised by the government’s refusal to provide agreement papers and minutes of meetings, “have proven that it the government not committed to the welfare of the academics.”

ASUU, therefore, called on Nigerians, including the National Peace Committee, to wade into the matter to resolve the crisis ahead of the current ultimatum, which expires on 6 October.

The statement said ASUU should not be held accountable for any industrial discord that may result from “the government’s ‘inability and deliberate refusal’ to meet the union’s demands and avert industrial disputes in the universities.”

“ASUU, therefore calls on well-meaning, public-spirited Nigerians, labour Unions, religious leaders, Civil Society Organisations, political leaders and the public to prevail on the Tinubu-led government to take decisive actions and engage with the leadership of ASUU to resolve all outstanding issues that could lead to the imminent shutdown of our university system,” the statement reads in part.

Way forward

The union said the best way to resolve the lingering crisis is for governments to tow the path of commitment to the collective bargaining principles established in the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

ASUU also condemned the government’s plan to amend the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Act to funnel 30 per cent of its funds to the student loan scheme, which it described as President Bola Tinubu’s ‘grandiose pet project’.

ASUU has consistently opposed the scheme and rejected a slot on the board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the government agency handling the scheme.

Demands

ASUU’s demands from the Nigerian government include the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, payments of its three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld during the 2022 strike action, and the continuous use of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for payments of university workers’ salaries.

The union also wants the government to pay its members’ earned academic allowances, release of funds for the revitalisation of universities, and the implementation of the reports of visitation panels to the universities.