One week to ultimatum deadline, ASUU rallies members for strike

Nigeria’s largest academic union, ASUU, is gearing up for an industrial action next week should the Nigerian government fail to address its demands.

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In a statement addressed to members of the union, ASUU president, Christopher Piwuna, said one week into the union’s 14-day ultimatum, no meaningful progress has been made.

Last week, ASUU issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Nigerian government, after a three-week wait period elapsed without a move from the government to address their demands.

Mr Piwuna, a professor, said the resolutions, which emanated from the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on 29 September, had been communicated to the Minister of Labour, Muhammad Dingyadi; Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

“It is now one week since those resolutions were reached and communicated to the appropriate authorities. I regret to inform you that there is no meaningful development deserving of any consideration to be reported,” Mr Piwuna told members of the union.

ASUU and the federal government have been at loggerheads for more than a decade over a series of the same issues, bordering on welfare for academics, funding and autonomy for the universities, all of which are contained in the 2009 agreement.

The renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, the crux of the dispute, has stalled for close to a decade since renegotiations began.

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ASUU have accused the government of reneging on both the initial 2009 agreement and subsequent memoranda of actions and understanding.

The Minister of Education, Mr Alausa, had said in August that a committee headed by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Abel Enitan, had been set up to look into the draft agreement between ASUU and the Yayale Ahmed renegotiation committee submitted in February.

However, while announcing the two-week ultimatum, ASUU said it had not received any feedback from the committee after they asked the union to wait for three weeks while President Bola Tinubu was out of the country.

“As we enter the second and final week of the ultimatum, I thank you on behalf of NEC for the patience and understanding which you demonstrated since the commencement of this torturous negotiation that has unjustifiably lasted over eight years,” he said.

“The goal of our current action remains principally to compel the government to sign and implement the renegotiated Agreement document, amongst other demands.”

He said the days ahead call for the mobilisation of members to ensure unity of purpose.

The ASUU president noted that the union has always acted in solidarity as a collective and “this action will not be different.”

“Members are to take instructions only from their Chairpersons. When in doubt, members should consult their Chairpersons, Zonal Coordinators and attend Congress meetings regularly for updates on further developments,” he added.