ASUU COMMENCES NATIONWIDE STRIKE
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, on Monday declared that it has commenced an indefinite nationwide strike.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday declared that it has commenced with immediate effect a "comprehensive, total and indefinite" nationwide strike.
The Union National President, Dr Nasir Isa Fagge made the declaration at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) after their National Executive Council meeting held at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State on Monday.
Fagge was quoted saying, "We are embarking on indefinite strike nation wide because the Federal Government reneged in the Memorandum of Understanding MoU signed with ASUU in 2009 to pay lecturers their earn allowance."
The unionist said that the government had also reneged on the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the union in December 2011.
In his words, "Before now, there has been this issue of the implementation of the key issues contained in the 2009 agreement we entered into with the Federal Government. "We have had several meetings and deliberations to let government understand why these issues must be resolved but it is like the more we meet and deliberate, the messier the issue gets. "One of the issues that needed to be addressed was basically that of the academic earned allowance. This earned allowance and other issues had dragged on until government then agreed to write an MOU with the union. "But as we speak, there has been nothing to show that government was committed to an MOU it also willingly wrote to better the university sector. It is in this regard that we are embarking on an indefinite strike." He also added that in 2009, the Federal Government made a law to pay each lecturers N12,500 per month as earn allowance which it never did since 2009. Fagge said that having waited patiently for the government to swing into action to no avail, the NEC of the union decided to meet, deliberate and come up with the action. The union leader said that the decision to embark on the strike was painful but that there was no going back until government takes positive steps to address their demands.
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