The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has indicated that a strike can be averted if the Federal Government fulfills agreements within the next two weeks.
Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU President, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday.
ASUU had previously threatened to commence a strike due to the Federal Government’s failure to implement agreed-upon terms. Minister of Education Prof. Tahir Mamman had convened a meeting on June 26 to address ongoing university issues and prevent the impending strike.
Osodeke noted that none of the agreements made with the Federal Government had been honored. “At the meeting called by the Minister of Education, we agreed to reconvene in two weeks to assess the government’s progress,” he stated. “Our next steps will depend on the government’s implementation of these agreements.”
Among the outstanding issues, Osodeke highlighted the non-implementation of renegotiated 2009 agreements, delayed academic allowances spanning over six years, and insufficient funding for revitalization, which was agreed upon based on the NEEDs Assessment Report to raise N200 billion annually for five years starting from 2013.
He also criticized the continued approval of new universities without adequate funding and the government’s failure to remove university salary payments from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), despite FEC approval earlier in January.
“Our members are still being paid via IPPIS against FEC directives,” Osodeke emphasized.
