Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) chapter, have threatened to go on strike due to the Federal Government’s failure to address their grievances.
Despite employing both diplomatic and political methods, the union insists they are dealing with a hypocritical government. On Thursday, they issued this threat following a peaceful march around the institution, protesting the government’s failure to implement an agreement with the union.
During the march, ASUU-UNN members carried placards with messages like “Government, stop forcing ASUU to embark on strike; government, honor agreements with ASUU; Government, don’t kill university education in Nigeria; Nigeria lecturers are the least paid in the globe.” They urged the government to renegotiate the 2009 agreement with the union.
The union members expressed support for their national leadership’s call for a nationwide indefinite strike if the government fails to meet their demands after the 21-day ultimatum.
Comrade Oyibo Eze, Chairman of ASUU-UNN, described the Nigerian government as hypocritical and wicked. He noted that despite President Bola Tinubu’s promise to end the ASUU strike upon assuming office, diplomatic and political efforts to address their grievances have failed.
Eze alleged that the Presidency and members of the National Assembly appropriate common treasuries for their selfish interests, leaving the masses in poverty. He emphasized that the union has exhausted all diplomatic and political means to resolve the issue, and now believes strike action is the only language the government understands.
Since 2009, efforts to renegotiate the agreement with the Federal Government have proved abortive. President Tinubu, who promised during his campaign to end the ASUU strike by fulfilling the union’s demands, has not matched his words with action since assuming office.
Despite articulating their grievances and sending them to the President three times, the union has not received any response from the government. Over the past year, political and diplomatic efforts have yielded no results. Eze criticized the government for taking large sums of money while neglecting civil servants.
Professor Johnson Urama, Deputy Vice Chancellor of UNN, addressed the union, commending their use of legitimate peaceful protest to express their dissatisfaction with the Federal Government. Urama expressed optimism that the government would act quickly to prevent the looming ASUU strike, which would disrupt academic activities in tertiary institutions.
ASUU previously went on a nationwide strike lasting eight months in 2022 due to the Federal Government’s failure to implement its agreement with the union.
