ASUU EMBARKS ON TWO WEEKS STRIKE
The Academic Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared a two week warning strike. Briefing journalists at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Enugu, the National President of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, announced that the strike takes effect from today.
Professor Ogunyemi said the warning strike was to compel the Federal Government to implement the agreements and resolutions it entered with the union in the 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement, 2013 memorandum of understanding and 2017 memorandum of understanding.
“We are saying Government, you have to engage the union within the next two weeks in order to address all these issues. To achieve that purpose, NEC has resolved to embark on a two week warning strike with effect from Monday 9th March, 2020,” Professor Ogunyemi declared.
The ASUU President lamented that the last Visitation Panel to Federal Universities was in 2011, an action he alleged had led to abuse of power and arbitrariness from Vice Chancellors and Pro Chancellors.
Professor Ogunyemi expressed dismay over non-payment of February 2020 salaries to its members in federal universities due to non enrollment into the Integrated Personnel and Payment Information System (IPPIS). He described the scheme (IPPIS) as a violation of the universities’ autonomy.
According to the ASUU President, “there are programmes in universities today that are being enhanced or enriched by scholars from outside Nigeria. IPPIS has said that no worker in university who does not have pensionable appointment will be captured in its system.”
Also, a former National President of ASUU, Professor Nasiru Issa-Fagge, who expressed regret that the Federal Government was yet to implement the 2009 Agreement, encouraged government to work with the union to address peculiarities of the country’s universities for effective learning and research.
The Chairman ASUU Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) chapter and host of the NEC meeting, Professor Chinedu Agubah, claimed that the public universities were under siege and needed urgent attention.
He directed his members in ESIT to comply with the directive by the national body saying “ASUUis one; all branches of the union have been mandated by the National Executive Council of the union to proceed with immediate effect on a two week warning strike. All academic activities at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology: exams, lectures, matriculation are hereby put on hold till further notice.”
The union resolved to reconvene its NEC meeting at the expiration of the warning strike for the next line of action if the government failed to do the needful.
NNEKA UGWUANYI