Skip to main content

Things You Should Know About looming ASUU strike



Ayoola Omole

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) reached a yet to be met Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the federal government, back in 2009. The agreement bordered among others, on the lecturers' salary structure, allowances, funding of federal and state universities, allocation of a minimum 26% of Nigeria's annual budget to the education sector, as recommended by UNESCO for developing nations, amendment of 2004 JAMB act, amendment of pensionable retirement age of academics in the professorial cadre, consolidated peculiar allowances (CONPUAA) .

The failure of the federal government to comply with these demands led to a Nationwide strike in 2013. In an attempt to put an end to the crisis which ravaged the education sector, ASUU was persuaded then by the Nigerian government to shelve its sword, and return to work after a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was reached, restating the government's readiness to follow its commitments through. 

Fast forward to 2017. Aside its feud with the federal government over non-implementation of the points contained in the 2013 MOU, ASUU is agitated by lack of government effort to apprehend unending  Boko Haram attacks on the university of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), endangering the lives of student, lecturers,  and academic facilities in the university. ASUU is seriously considering an option to embark on industrial action to press its demands. It would be recalled that  that no less than 7 members of ASUU who were lecturers at the University Of Maiduguri were killed in a Boko Haram attack last month, forcing seventy 70 academic staff to resign amid fear of vulnerability to the terrorist sect.

ASUU kick started nationwide referendum on whether or not to resume its suspended strike in a bid to coerce the federal government to honour its 2009 agreement and 2013 MOU. The national President of the Association, Professor Biodun Ogunymi, after a National Executive Council meeting, transmitted a directive to the branches of ASUU nationwide, asking members to decide whether to proceed on two-week warning strike, one-month warning strike, no strike action or total and indefinite strike if the Federal Government fails to satisfactorily address its concerns.

It is clear that the leadership of the association has identified the need to apply pressure on the federal government to implement its long standing agreements at this point through strike action;  a tool that has to a large extent proven an effective method at seizing government attention, and solely subjected whatever decision to be made to the preference of its members, guided by the practice of internal democracy. According to reports, the referendum has started with branches of ASUU already signalling their respective choices, it is expected that the most popular of the stated options would direct ASUU's general position.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The story of how Nigeria’s census figures became weaponized - Feyi Fawehinmi

By Feyi Fawehinmi The story of Nigeria’s 1962 census never gets old. Southern politicians seeking to end the north’s dominance of Nigerian politics decided that the only way to do it was through the census. Population figures at the time determined not only parliamentary representation but also revenue allocation and employee distribution in the civil service. In May 1962, the first census under an independent Nigerian government began. There had been a frenzy of mobilization by politicians in the south of the country using pamphlets, radio, schools, churches and mosques. Although the final results were not made public, the preliminary results were quite clear as to what had happened: the north’s population had gone up from 16.5 million in the last census in 1952 to 22.5 million, an increase of 30%. But in some parts of the east, the population had increased by up to 200% and more than 70% in general. The west also reported an increase of 70%. What the preliminary results showed...
Post a Comment
Read more

Concerns grow over Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba's mental state at Manchester United

Telegraph UK Jose Mourinho is facing a serious battle to revitalise his star signings Alexis Sanchez and Paul Pogba amid growing concerns about their state of mind at Manchester United as Zlatan Ibrahimovic quit the club to join Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States. Sanchez has admitted his struggles at Old Trafford in the wake of his January move from Arsenal have left him “emotionally and psychologically exhausted”. And Pogba has appeared relieved to join up with the French squad this week and escape his current club woes under Mourinho, with France coach Didier Deschamps admitting the midfielder’s problems at United were “complicated” following heart-to-heart talks between the pair. Concerns over Sanchez and Pogba came as Mourinho launched yet another defence of his reign at United and brand of football and LA Galaxy prepared to announce on Friday that Ibrahimovic has signed a two-year deal to join the Major League Soccer outfit after his short spell at Old Trafford w...
Post a Comment
Read more

Game Of Thrones Finale Breaks Record Again

The finale of the 7th season of HBO hit show “Game of Thrones” has again broken the record to become HBO’s most watched show ever. The episode “The Dragon and the Wolf” was seen by 12.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. HBO said when views from streaming service HBO Go and its stand-alone HBO Now app are included, that number rises to a whooping 16.5 million viewers. The 12.1 million viewers is a 36 percent improvement from last season finale which was seen by 8.9 million people. The previous record for the most watched HBO show belonged to, fittingly, episode 5 of the 7th season Game of Thrones, which was seen by 10.7 million viewers. HBO added that this season averaged 31 million viewers per episode once all live, time-shifted, on-demand, and streaming views are included. This is another record set by the show.
Post a Comment
Read more