Education: ASUU, Go Back To Classroom

 Education: ASUU, Go Back To Classroom

Nigeria, from North to South, was filled with optimism over a recent newsflash that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), after a meeting with religious leaders, had considered stepping back from its strike action and returning to classroom, as the renegotiation of its dispute with the federal government was being activated. 

The positive report became popular among Nigerians in the context of the frustration and hardship which university students and their parents are enduring since the last three months. 

However, less than 24 hours after the glimmer of hope appeared on our horizon, it was dashed in a gloomy retraction by ASUU’s leadership, which anchored its resolve to continue the strike action on government’s failure to address their grievances. 

But it should be clear to ASUU at this point that a prolonged industrial action, for another three months, as projected in its statements, just makes no sense.

Our academic staff have asked government to meet two primary conditions of the renegotiated 2020 agreement with government before they call off the ongoing strike action. The two issues, precisely about payment platform and outstanding salaries, captured in the agreement read out by the minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige,  in 2020 thus: “We are …reviewing how the lecturers will be paid on the old platform until UTAS is ready for usage. We agreed also that the withheld salaries are the component of the issue of ‘no work, no pay’ that was invoked and the minister of education and myself are working on to get approval for the lifting of the embargo…” These issues have not been resolved, two years after.