The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday announced that it had commenced a “total and comprehensive indefinite” nationwide strike.
Addressing journalists after an emergency meeting of its National Executive Council held at the University of Abuja, ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, said the industrial action began Sunday, August 13.
He said the lecturers downed tools due to government’s failure to fulfil the 2009 agreement made with them.
“The nationwide action is total and comprehensive. During the strike there shall be no teaching, no examination and no attendance of statutory meetings of any kind in any of our branch,” Ogunyemi said.
Recalling that ASUU embarked on a six-month strike between July and December 2013, Ogunyemi said that action was suspended when government signed an MoU with the union.
“Of all the items contained in the MoU, only the N200b out of a total of N1.3tr of the Public Universities Revitalisation (Needs Assessment) fund was released.
“The union also embarked on a one week warning strike in November 2016 to press for the implementation of 2013 MoU. However, government did not implement the understanding reach between the union and Federal Government base on the intervention by the leadership of Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Stating further, Ogunyemi said “The union has also met with the 2009 Agreement Implementation Monitoring Committee, IMC, and had written several letters press releases and communiqués on the outstanding issues to no avail.
“The National Executive Council, NEC, of ASUU then met at the University of Abuja on August 12, 2017 to consider the result of a referendum from all branches in a bid to ascertain ways of convincing government to implement outstanding aspects of the 2009 and the MoU of 2013”.
Ogunyemi said the government had ignored the education system, while the political class send their wards to private universities and universities abroad leaving public universities in Nigeria to collapse.
“Primary and secondary school system has already collapse in Nigeria but not all Nigerians have the funds to send their wards to private schools,” he said.
