ASUU raises alarm over collapsing universities system      — calls on President to be proactive to avert strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Tuesday, raised an alarm that the universities system across the nation is gradually collapsing due to the failure of the government to address outstanding issues with the union.

This is just as it called on concerned stakeholders to prevail on President Bola Tinubu and state governors to address the outstanding issues with the union to avert unnecessary industrial crises and total break down of the universities system.

The Chairman, Emmanuel Alayande University of Education (EAUE), Oyo chapter of the union, Dr. Michael Ojo, with spoke with journalists, called on President Tinubu to as a matter of urgency rescue the Nigerian university system that is bleeding to death, maintaining that one of the ways to address the bleeding was for the President to rise up and sign a renegotiated agreements with ASUU.

He said salary awards are not substitutes for a negotiated agreement as each negotiated agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU is a comprehensive package that captures not just salary component but also a gamut of requirements for bench-marking a competitive university system designed for addressing the developmental challenges of Nigeria.

He stressed that the demand of ASUU for negotiated salary and other conditions of Service is anchored on the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Convention No. 98, stating that this underscores the principle of “Collective Bargaining” as the last FGN/ASUU Agreement was in 2009.

Ojo who led members of the union on a street protest accused the Federal Government of unwillingness to decisively address the outstanding issues with the union.

The ASUU boss urged President Tinubu to immediately set in motion the process that will lead to the review and signing of the Nimi Briggs-led renegotiated draft agreement as a mark of goodwill and assured hope for Nigeria’s public universities.

While putting the public on notice of a possible strike in the next two weeks, Ojo noted that the Union has been sensitizing the Nigerian people in the past two months so that they will not be surprised if it resorted to strike as the last resort.

He called on “well-meaning and discerning minds, Opinion leaders, Traditional and Religious leaders, Media, Labour Movements, Students’ groups and Civil Society Organizations to prevail on the Nigerian government, at both Federal and State levels, to attend to the above stated outstanding issues and meet with our Union leadership so as to avert an unnecessary and avoidable industrial crisis in our already frail and weak University system.”

While insisting that the policies of the incumbent government has further impoverished Nigerians including lecturers,  Ojo demanded that the outstanding salaries of lecturers who participated in the last strike should be paid the remaining three and half months.

According to him, “ASUU is now demanding for full payment of all entitlements of our members because “No Work No Pay” policy remains a breach of international labour law.

“The federal and state governments must rise up to their responsibility of adequate funding to arrest the emergent rot and decay that are becoming more noticeable on the campuses of Nigeria’s public Universities in spite of the intervention efforts of TETFund.”

He also called on the administration of President Tinubu to approve the immediate release of funds for the continuation of critical projects in all the institutions.