LOOMING STRIKE: ASUU NOTIFIES NIGERIANS

REPORTER: CHINAZO ILECHUKWU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Imo State University Chapter, has appealed to well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the Federal government to implement the agreements it entered into with the Union to avoid industrial action.

Addressing a news conference at the University auditorium in Owerri, the Chairperson of the Chapter, Comrade Augustine Ejiogu, expressed regret that the government was yet to implement their resolutions almost one year after it suspended its strike.

He identified non release of Needs Assessment Fund for revitalization of public universities, nonpayment of earned academic allowances by both the state and the federal governments and alleged irregularities in the use of Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) for payment of salaries as some of the issues bothering the lecturers.

Comrade Ejiogu said efforts to get the attention of the government to their plight had not yielded any result and warned that the union would not entertain pleas from Nigerians if it is forced to resume the strike it suspended in May 2021.

“This press conference is clear signal that our union has reached the limits of our patience as we are being pushed into embarking on a total and indefinite strike only a few months after one was suspended.

“When the next music begins to play there will be no break until we see the concrete implementation of the demands,” he threatened.

Comrade Ejiogu hinted that ASUU would no longer enter into any other understanding or agreement with the government until the existing ones were fully respected, adding that poor remuneration of lecturers constituted a challenge to the nation’s quest for academic excellence.

Some students of the University, who spoke with Radio Nigeria, appealed to the government to listen to the demands of ASUU to avoid further disruption of the academic calendar, thereby extending their stay in the university.