By Blossom Okiemute Chukwu
It was in the news on Monday March 14 that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has extended its strike by another 8 weeks.
According to the President of the union, Emmanuel Osodeke, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, extended its ongoing strike by eight weeks, as the Federal Government failed to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action, within the first four-week warning strike.
Osodeke noted that the National Executive Council, during their meeting on Sunday March 13, concluded that they would give the FG eight weeks to address all the issues “in concrete terms”, so that the students would resume in their various institutions of learning. The statement partly read that, “NEC acknowledged the intervention efforts, in various ways, by patriots and friends of genuine national development. These include students, parents, journalists, trade union leaders, civil society activists etc, to expeditiously resolve the crisis which according to ASUU, the Government has allowed to fester.
Whether ASUU is right or wrong that the Government has allowed the crisis to fester, is not the issue. What matters at this point, is the fact that the Government has to go beyond every foreseeable boundary, to speedily resolve this lingering crisis, and allow students return to school. This suggests a quick resolution of any matter that has not been resolved, to give room for more productive dialogue and negotiation, across board.
There are more calls coming in presently, for Students and other parties involved, to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the current situation through different protest means. As a follow up to these calls, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), said it has commenced the mobilisation of students nationwide, to disrupt official activities and public movements, beginning from Monday March 28. NANS, through it’s President Sunday Asefon, said this was to express its anger over the inability of the Federal Government and university lecturers, under the umbrella of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to come to a compromise and reopen the classrooms.
On March 16, the National Executive Council (NEC) of NANS at their expanded meeting in Abuja, asked parties to reach a compromise on or before Monday March 28, to avoid the mass action. It also asked the National Assembly to do everything possible within the period to end the strike, to avoid possible breakdown of law and order by the students.
In addition to this move by NANS, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU), has also directed members nationwide, to embark on a two-week warning strike from Monday, March 28, 2022.
The Associations said they are joining the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), over unresolved issues with the Federal Government. This is as the unions announced plans to present their preferred mode of payment – the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System (U3PS), which they said, would address the challenges in the remuneration system, The Trumpet gathered.
Read Also: Electoral Act: Nine Delta State commissioners resign
Though one of their objectives is to cripple both academic and administrative activities in the nation’s public universities in protest, the best will be for them to be willing to come to quick agreements with the Government in order to end the strike actions.
This is one of the reasons why ASUU on the other hand, has to be willing to cooperate with the Government, so that all lingering areas of disagreements in the FG/ASUU agreement, can be fully resolved. Let ASUU remember that no matter how much concern that is raised, no one will support the system if the strike becomes a political tool in the hands of the academic community, to the detriment of the Students welfare. Let everyone work, to make Nigeria better. This remains the key to a greater nation.
