Federal Government Will Be Accountable If Strike Occurs Again- ASUU Tells Nigerians

Makurdi, Benue State- The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has alerted Nigerians that any future strike by its members should be attributed to the Federal Government’s failure to address ongoing issues.

In a statement from the ASUU-Nsukka Zone issued on Wednesday in Makurdi, Zonal Coordinator Raphael Amokaha expressed serious concerns regarding the government’s lack of sincerity in resolving the union’s longstanding grievances.

Amokaha highlighted that ASUU has made significant efforts to avert a strike but feels the government has not engaged constructively with their demands.

He drew parallels between the current situation and the lengthy strike in 2022, noting that many unresolved issues remain.

“The challenges we faced then, such as the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU/FGN Agreement, inadequate funding for our universities, the unwarranted takeover of bursary departments’ responsibilities by the Integrated Personnel Payment Information System (IPPIS), and the non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) included in the 2023 budget, are still pertinent,” Amokaha said.

He lamented the government’s insufficient response to ASUU’s concerns since the conclusion of the last nationwide strike in October 2022.

The statement read, “This attitude, unfortunate in its nonchalance, may be inspired by a delusional sense of conquest over ASUU. Why else would a government treat the cries and appeals of an intellectual union with such disdain and levity, especially coming in the wake of campaign promises that are still so fresh?

“ASUU in its characteristic patriotism and selflessness has been on the same issues for the last seven years. We do not consider it pertinent to dwell on these issues here for fear of sounding like broken records. The Union has bent backwards to avoid industrial disharmony in our public universities by seeking an amicable resolution of the issues in contention.”

Amokaha pointed out that the government has utterly failed to be responsive and uphold the agreements made with the union.

He emphasized that “the ASUU-Nsukka zone firmly believes that our union has taken all reasonable and necessary steps to prevent any further disruptions to academic activities in our public universities.”

“And we are making this last ditch effort that public hearted individuals and all concerned citizens will lend their voices to our efforts to seek an amicable resolution of the concerns and agitations of our union.

“University workers are one of the very few, if not the only set of workers in Nigeria that have not had a salary review in the last fifteen years. We have consistently held press interactions at the various levels of our union, done protests, held town hall meetings all in a bid to avoid strikes and impress it on government to do the right thing. All these have been futile.

“This lack of commitment and sincerity on the part of government must stop. We wish to put it on record that government agents have been lackadaisical in their approach, non-committal in their utterances and evasive in meetings.

Amokaha added that the Government through its agents has chosen delay tactics over sincerity of purpose.

“The President of Nigeria addressed the nation on our 64th independence anniversary. In his address, there was copious reference to a month long youth confab that government was planning ostensibly as a way of giving our youth direction to a bright future.

It read, “If we may ask though, can a one month confab compare to four years of steady academic calendars of quality education in securing the future of our youths and our nation? Can this ‘noble’ confab intended by government accommodate one tenth of the youth population in our public universities, bearing in mind that there are over seventy public universities, with a minimum of four thousand students each with some having as many as 60 to 120,000 students?

“If the government cares about our youth, if the government cares about the citizenry, if the government cares about a better Nigeria, the first thing to do is to take education seriously.

“The way forward to avoid the looming industrial crisis in our public universities, and to secure the future of our youth and nation is for government to let good conscience prevail.

“Even though the high hopes we had with the advent of the present regime have dimmed we refuse to give up completely, and even in our hope, our resilience remains unwavering.

“ASUU-Nsukka Zone wishes to state in clear terms that if the government of theday frustrates our union into an industrial action, then the government must be held solely responsible for such a crisis. Consequently, all appeals for an amicable resolution at that time should be directed at government and not our union,” he  added.