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Tag: ASUU strike

ASUU Strike: Nigerian Students Are Ready To Be Shot To End Strike – NANS President
The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Sunday Asefon on Thursday suggested that the union is prepared to hit the streets to protest the strike embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Mr Asefon made the comment while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
According to Mr Asefon, the government appears not to be interested in ending the strike as focus shifts to elections in 2023.
He referenced the protests in Benin-city embarked by some university students.
“We are talking about education, we are talking about life,” he said. “Our life is no longer being discussed by the leaders, these leaders that we elected; but rather, their focus now is about election. This election that we are talking about is because of their parochial and selfish interest.
“We are battle ready, the highest they can do is to shoot us,” he said. “If they shoot, they will ask their police to shoot us, if we die, the generation coming will know we died because of fighting for them. They would also know that they shot us because they are preparing for election. But we need to take action”
Mr Asefon noted that the government should stop playing politics with the ASUU issue.
“If you have an opportunity to meet the ASUU and federal government, federal government will tell you they inherited the problem from PDP, the ASUU will tell you this negotiation has been on since when Jonathan was there but what we believe as students is that government is continuous; they should be able to fine tune and find a solution to this matter,” he said.
“We should not be at the receiving end every time and as such, they should stop using us to play politics.”
May 5, 2022
We don’t know why ASUU is on strike – FG
The federal government said it was still not aware of reasons that caused the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
This was as it said universities founded and being funded by state governments have no business joining federal universities on strike,if the cause of the strike bothered on issues the union claimed.
Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, speaking in Abuja,also told the union that it lacked basic rights to dictate to the government how salaries of members who he noted,were employees, should be paid by government being their employer
He said the federal government has limited resources and cannot borrow money to pay ASUU, saying government can only borrow money to fund infrastructure like railways and other critical infrastructure where it gets return from.
“Why they (ASUU) have chosen to go on strike is something that neither you nor I can explain”, he told reporters while answering questions on the federal government and ASUU face-off.
“In the school system,we have about 2.6 million Nigerian undergraduates in the nearly 200 universities across Nigeria. The federal government owns less than 50 of these universities. State governments own nearly 50 of them as well whereas private people,private organisations,faith based organisations own over 100 of them.
“The only part where children are not in school at the moment are the ones that belong to the federal government. So there is no need for any other university to be at home,”he said.
Nwajiuba explained that,”The engagement with Academic Staff Union of Universities,ASUU,has been a long drawn one,based on the 2009 agreement that was signed before we came into government.
” It is our duty as government to give life to those agreement which ASUU rightly seeks to make sure that the universities that the federal government owns are properly funded.
“The federal government’s funding is very limited and because of the additional challenges of security,it had to repeatedly borrow money to finance projects. This same borrowing is not available to build social infrastructure, it’s only available to build infrastructure that government can get return from,like railways.
“To borrow and pay people is normally not what World Bank or other financial institutions borrow money for.
However,the federal government has continued to address this by paying the salaries that are due.”
He said the university lecturers cannot continue to dictate to the government how their salaries be paid.
Hear him:”Government is the one who pays, therefore, it is impractical and incongruous that somebody who is paid a salary continues to dictate for someone who pays him.”
May 3, 2022
No Party will hold Presidential Primaries in Abuja Until ASUU strike Ends — NANS Declares
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) says there will be no presidential primaries in Abuja until the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities resolve their differences and call off the strike action.
This was made known in a statement issued on Sunday by Sunday Asefon, NANS president.
ASUU has been on strike since February 14 due to several unresolved issues — one of which is the union’s insistence on making use of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a preferred payment option, instead of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Amid the strike action, Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, minister of state for education, have declared their interest to contest the 2023 presidential election.
NANS described the declaration of the ministers as “total disrespect” for students who currently “languish” at home due to their “collective failures”.
“We have also in the past weeks seen those saddled with great responsibility in the education sector and those saddled with responsibilities of resolving labour crises declaring interest to contest for the seat of the President come 2023,” the statement reads.
“We are surprised by their effrontery and total disrespect to the Nigerian people for having the courage to even moot the idea of contesting talkless of picking up the N100m presidential form while students languish at home because of their collective failures.
“Politicians have shown no concern for the plight of the students but are only busy in their selfish and inordinate ambitions to become the next President.
“Let me say without mincing words, the two major political parties should forget any political gathering in Abuja or elsewhere except there is a solution to the lingering ASUU strike.”
NANS threatened to frustrate all the activities leading to the selection of party candidates if ASUU remains on strike.
The association said the federal government should either resolve the strike or get ready to “give direct orders to the security operatives to shoot us at the site during party conventions to select a presidential candidate”.
May 2, 2022
Workers Day: Senate President, Ahmad Lawan Seeks End To ASUU Strike
Senate President Ahmad Lawan on Saturday called for a speedy and amicable resolution to the months-old Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) strike.
He made the call in a statement celebrating Nigerian workers on the occasion of this year’s May Day.
The statement was signed by his spokesperson Ola Awoniyi.
“Nigerian workers deserve our appreciations and respects for their contributions to the development of our country,” Lawan said.
“I also salute them for their patriotic cooperation with the government and and other institutions in the collective efforts to address societal challenges.
“There is no gainsaying the fact that Labour creates wealth for the nation, the more reason that the welfare of the Nigerian workers should always be accorded priority.
“As Parliament, the National Assembly will continue to partner with the Organised Labour in addressing issues that affect workers and the generality of the Nigerian people.
“Despite the prevailing challenges, the relationship between Labour and the Government should be cooperative in the overall interest of the country.
“In the spirit of May Day, I appeal for a speedy and amicable resolution of the ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) to ensure that our universities reopen for learning and research.
“We should always be mindful that no society can make meaningful progress without industrial peace and harmony.
“Once again, I say congratulations to all Nigerian workers and wish them a happy May Day.”
May 1, 2022
ASUU Strike: FG Is Not Opposed To Renegotiations – Ngige
The Federal Government has said that it is not opposed to renegotiations of the conditions of service of all workers in the public universities across the country.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige stated this on Monday while receiving members of the government side of the 2009 Federal Government/University-based unions agreement re-negotiation committee led by the Chairman, Prof. Nimi Briggs.
Speaking against the backdrop of the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), Ngige said as the conciliator, he has been pushing to see that everything contained in the 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the government and the union was done, including the implementation of the renegotiated positions.
The minister recalled that the renegotiation commenced in 2017 when the Federal Government was inaugurated. a committee headed by Wale Babalakin SAN who was later replaced by Professor Manzali, but COVID-19 struck in 2020.
He explained that in the December 2020 agreement, he gave the government side a timeline to return to the university unions who are their employees to sort everything out.
“I started pushing to see that things were done. What the Manzali committee came up with is a proposal. Both Manzali and ASUU did not sign. At our last meeting in February before ASUU proceeded on strike, we said everyone should go back to his principal,” Ngige stated during the meeting.
“I asked the Education ministry several times what they had done with the document. We later got information on areas of disagreement. There is nothing wrong with that. It is bound to happen. I told ASUU to put up a committee, they said Manzali committee had expired.”
“So, I am a parent. I feel it. I didn’t send my children to Igbinedion or Afe Babalola or Cambridge.”
Ngige said his daughter as American citizenship could have accessed American education but he refused.
According to him, the Nigerian university system produced him and he remains proud of it.
“When we went to universities here, I knew the course content and as a medical doctor, the doctors we trained here are better than the ones trained abroad. That is one of the counsels I gave to my children. You can do your first degree. One got admission in Ghana, I said no. Others got in Canada and UK, but I refused. If anybody will be interested in the welfare of workers in Nigerian universities, I am number one. I told my colleagues that what university professors showed us here as their salaries is unacceptable.”
The minister said he had commissioned studies on productivity with regards to emoluments and based on the results he got, it was clear that payments done ten years ago when the exchange rate was better, amounted to nothing now with 100 percent depreciation of Naira compared to the Dollar.
“Why won’t I support if ASUU and their unions now want a renegotiation of their conditions of service, which is the main thing in the proposal by previous Manzali?”
Meanwhile, Prof. Briggs who is also the Pro-Chancellor of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndifu Alike, Ebonyi State, said the renegotiation committee was consulting all stakeholders with a view to finding a lasting solution to issues in dispute.
The academics are seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands.
One bone of contention for the academics is the non-payment of university revitalisation funds, which amounts to about N1.1 trillion.
But the Federal Government has said it doesn’t have the money to pay such an amount, citing low oil prices during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The agreement was reportedly struck in 2009.
Another is the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
The academics have proposed an alternative payroll system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
April 12, 2022
FG Reacts to Extension of ASUU Strike
The Federal Government has reacted to the extension of the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
Daybreak had reported that ASUU on Monday extended the strike by eight weeks, saying it took the decision because the Federal Government failed to address the issues it raised in a 2020 FGN/ASUU agreement.
But contrary to ASUU claims, the Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba claimed the government met all the demands of the union.
In an interview with newsmen at the end of the commemoration of the 2022 Commonwealth Celebration in Abuja, Nwajiuba said all earned allowances, as well as the revitalisation funds demanded, had been released.
“ASUU announced and we met and everything that they have demanded, we have done all of them including the earned allowances and the revitalisation fund; they choose to extend it for two months maybe,” he said.
March 14, 2022
Nigerian Students Protest Over ASUU Strike
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has held a protest against the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The students led by the national president, Sunday Asefon, gathered on Monday morning at Unity Fountain in Abuja, displaying various placards and chanting songs of solidarity.
The protest was also held in other states including, Kofar Nasarawa, Kano State; Jos, Plateau State; Minna, Niger State; Jalingo, Taraba State; Ekiti State; Oyo State, among others.
The NANS President addressing journalists in Abuja said the protesters will match from the Unity Fountain to the Federal Secretariat before proceeding to the National Assembly.
Asefon said the students union has given the Federal Government up till the 28th of February to meet and resolve the issue with ASUU or face a national mass action by Nigerian students.
He described as unfortunate the attitude of the Federal Government who he accused of playing hide and seek with ASUU since 1999 when it signed the agreement with the academic union.
From the Unity Fountain, the Nigerian students marched to the National Assembly. They were however stopped by security operatives at the gate.
A few of the students tried to put up resistance, but they were overpowered by security agents.
Security agents while addressing Nigerian students during their protest in Abuja on Monday, February 28, 2022. PHOTO: Sodiq Adelakun/Channels TV
NANS, last week issued a one-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to resolve its disagreement with ASUU or face a national mass action by Nigerian students across the country.
The President of the association gave the ultimatum last week Monday, in Sokoto shortly after signing the reviewed Constitution of the association at the Sokoto State Government House.
He vowed that every Nigerian student that the ASUU strike has sent home will participate in the strike and block all the Federal roads and the office of the Minister of Education and the office of the Minister of Labour should also be blocked.
According to the NANS President, “If Nigerian students are at home, office of the Minister of Education and Minister of Labour cannot be opened.”
February 28, 2022
ASUU Strike: We’ll Block All Roads Linking To Abuja – NANS
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has threatened to block all roads to Abuja if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)’s strike is not called off.
The association said that it will also match the Abuja streets on Monday to protest against the strike action by ASUU.
Speaking to BBC Hausa on Tuesday, the vice president of the union, Yazid Tanko Muhammad, said the protest had become necessary in order to rescue the educational system of the country from incessant strike actions.
He said: “The reason we choose to embark on a protest is that it is the only language that can be understood and it is the only way we can show the world our situations and feelings towards the strike.
“So, it is a protest which if we start, will not stop until the issues are resolved and the lecturers resume work.
“So we will block the roads linking Abuja from Kogi, Abuja from Kaduna and Abuja from Nasarawa states.
“That means we will block the whole Abuja on that day. We will also block the Federal Secretariat.
“That is why we are calling on Mr President to show concern and solidarity to us by not attending to work on that day.
“He should please remain at home. Since everyone is a student, either a Minister, Senator, House of representatives member they were all students before they reached the level they are now.
“So, we are doing this because of the future of our education and the country.
“We can’t just stay at home and watch. No country in the world can go on strike for a whole month without any concrete reasons like a pandemic or similar things.”
He said the protest will involve students, parents and civil servants who will join them to tell the world the situation they are facing in the country with regards to their education.
February 23, 2022
Strike: FG, Listen to the demands of ASUU, Give Room For Re-Negotiation – Alh. Abubakar Ibrahim
From Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Former People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship Aspirant in Kogi State, Alhaji Ibrahim Abubakar Idris on Tuesday in Lokoja called on the Federal Governmemt to listen to the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
Abubakar, one of the recipients at the Federal University, Lokoja chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria University (SSANU), North Central Zone’s awards made the call during their zonal meeting at Adankolo campus, Lokoja.
Abubakar, who is a son of the former governor of Kogi State, Ibrahim Idris said the FG should take urgent steps towards resolving the current industrial action in the interest of the country.
He said the One – month warning strike declared by ASUU which began on Monday will create a huge havoc, vacuum as well as affect the quality of education acquired by universities’ graduates in the country.
“It is regrettable that the University has embarked on yet another industrial action. Aside destabilising the academic calendar, there will be no integrity in the graduates the country will chun out in nearest future.
“The best the Federal Governmemt should do is to listen to The Academic Staff Union of Universities who had toiled all the years in bracing academic structures to meet their demands on time to enhance continuity in educational pursuit.” He added.
“These (lecturers) are people who made us whom we are today. Their demands should be given adequate attention”
Abubakar who said the strike will have negative impact on students, their families and the country at large if the industrial action is allowed to continue, wondering why the country continue to experience such ugly development in the education sector.
He however called on ASUU to give room for re-negotiation in the interest of the country, stressing that there is need to give room for harmony in the educational sector.
Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim who described the honour done him by SSANU as a surprise, assured that he will continue to render selfless services to the vulnerable in particular.
He pointed out that the honour done to him will ginger his zeal and determination to do more for the people of his state and the country at large.
February 15, 2022
ASUU Warms Up for Strike, Declares Monday 7th Lecture-Free-Day
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has urged its chapters across the country to sensitise members of the public on the situation between the union and the Federal Government. This is as it declared Monday, February 7, 2022, as a lecture-free day in a bid to enhance the sensitisation.
The National President of the Union, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, disclosed this in an interview on Saturday.
According to Sunday PUNCH, the directive to the chapters of ASUU comes less than a week after President Muhammadu Buhari pledged the commitment of his administration to fulfilling the agreement with the union.
Buhari made the promise when members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council visited him to discuss the lingering issues.
While making the pledge, Buhari pleaded with the union to exercise patience and consider current economic realities.
The last national strike by ASUU was in March 2020 and it lasted till December 2020, when a Memorandum of Action was signed.
However, a year after signing the MoA, ASUU accused the government of failing to fulfil its side of the bargain and threatened to mobilise for another strike immediately.
The government quickly moved to pay N55bn as part-payment for the Earned Academic Allowance and Revitalisation Fund, but the union was unmoved until the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council and other dignitaries waded in.
Prof Osodeke clarified during the interview that the union had not yet declared a strike but would be sensitising the public, which includes the media, on the state of affairs between the union and the Federal Government.
February 7, 2022