The Federal Government has been given a 14-day ultimatum by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to settle some outstanding concerns or face further strike action.
Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, the president of ASUU, issued the ultimatum in a statement on Wednesday. He expressed his displeasure with the government’s purported use of delay tactics as a strategy to avoid fulfilling its unfulfilled obligations.
Osodike claimed that the public university system is experiencing a crisis as a result of the government’s treatment of the union’s members. Eyes Of Lagos reports,
ASUU is requesting the release of its members’ salaries that have been delayed as a result of the 2022 strike action as well as the conclusion of the revision of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs Committee’s Draft Agreement of 2021.
Along with the implementation of the 2021 agreement, the union also demands the payment of unpaid third-party deductions like check-off dues and cooperative contributions, as well as the release of unpaid salaries for employees on sabbatical, part-time, and adjunct appointments that are impacted by the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Additionally, as part of the 2023 Federal Government Budget, the academic union is asking funds for the revitalization of public universities and the payment of Earned Academic Allowances.
Furthermore, ASUU is requesting that the Federal and State governments stop creating more universities, that visitation panel reports be implemented, that the unlawful dissolution of Governing Councils be reversed, and that the University Transparency and Accountability Solution be used in place of IPPIS.
“Considering the aforementioned, ASUU decides to grant the Nigerian Government an additional 14 days, on top of the previous 21 days, starting on Monday, September 23, 2024, to ensure that all outstanding issues have been resolved in a way that satisfies the union’s membership,” Oshodeke stated.
The government’s inability to grasp the new chance presented by ASUU to avert the impending catastrophe, he continued, could not be blamed on the union for any industrial discord.
