Hopes of Nigerian students and parents for the re-opening of the nation’s public universities shut about six months ago were dashed on Monday as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) again extend the strike.
The decision was taken at the National Executive Council meeting of the union held at the union’s headquarters at the University of Abuja on Monday morning.
Though details of the meeting were still sketchy, it was gathered that the strike has been “rolled over” for another month.
ASUU President Prof Emmanuel Osodeke is expected to brief the about the outcome of the NEC officially.
On February 14, ASUU declared a one-month warning strike that soon escalated into a total strike.
The strike, which has kept public universities shut and academic activities grounded and students and Nigerians bewildered, is in its sixth month, with no end in sight.
Some of the demands of the union include: funding for revitalisation of public universities; payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA)/Earned Allowances (EA); payment of salary shortfalls; stop the proliferation of state universities by governors; setting up of Visitation Panels.
Others are: renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement; adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a payment platform for university lecturers and payment of withheld salaries and non-remittance of check – off dues.
The Director of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong told The Nation that the government wasn’t moved by the threats by the university lecturers to turn their over six months strike into an indefinite strike.
Goong said as far as the Federal Government was concerned, ASUU was already on indefinite strike.
“ASUU has been on strike since February. People who have been on strike for over six months are threatening to go on indefinite strike. They are already on indefinite strike,” Goong said.
