ASUU Goes On Nationwide Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced a four-week “comprehensive and total” strike nationwide.
The strike takes effect from Monday, February 14, 2022,being Valentine’s day.

ASUU National President Prof Emmanuel Osodeke made this known to journalists on Monday in Lagos, after the National Executive Council(NEC) meeting of the union tagged ‘NEC for NEC.’

According to him, the ASUU strike, which commences on Monday, February 14, 2022, would last for an initial period of four weeks.
Members of the union’s National Executive Council had held marathon meetings since Saturday at the University of Lagos titled, ‘NEC for NEC.’

Osodeke said ASUU had sensitised and mobilised lecturers and students across all universities on the reason the union might likely go on strike and expressed their grievances over the failure of the Federal Government to fulfil some of the agreements it made as far back as 2009.

ASUU had on November 15, 2021, given the federal government a three-week ultimatum over the failure to meet the demands.

The lecturers threatened to embark on another round of industrial action following the alleged “government’s unfaithfulness” in the implementation of the Memorandum of Action it signed with the union, leading to the suspension of the 2020 strike action.

After the union’s National Executive Council meeting at the University of Abuja on November 13 and 14, ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, lamented that despite meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on October 14, 2021, on issues, including funding for revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution; promotion arrears, renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, and the inconsistencies in Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System Payment, none of its demands had been met.

Following the threat, the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, promised that the union would be paid.

A few weeks after, ASUU suspended the planned strike, as N22.1 billion earned allowances were paid to lecturers in federal universities.

As a result of the union’s renewed agitations, the co-chairmen of the National Inter-religious Council, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar III, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. Samson Ayokunle,in january, visited President Muhammadu Buhari,to discuss the lack of implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding the government signed with ASUU in 2009 and others.