ASUU warms up for fresh strike, says no lectures tomorrow (Monday)

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has declared Monday, February 7, 2022, as a lecture-free day in all government-owned universities in preparation for a fresh nationwide strike.

The National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the lecture-free day was to sensitise its members and the general public to the situation between the union and the Federal Government.

He disclosed this in an interview with Sunday Punch on Saturday.

Already, he said the directive had been passed on to the chapters of ASUU.

This is coming less than a week after President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged the commitment of his administration to the fulfilment of the agreement with the union.

Buhari made the promise when members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council visited him to discuss the lingering issue.

While making the pledge, Buhari pleaded with the union to exercise patience and consider current economic realities.

The last national strike by ASUU was in March 2020 and it lasted till December 2020, when a Memorandum of Action was signed.

However, a year after signing the MoA, ASUU accused the government of failing to fulfil its side of the bargain and threatened to mobilise for another strike immediately.

The government quickly moved to pay N55bn as part-payment for the Earned Academic Allowance and Revitalisation Fund, but the union was unmoved until the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council and other dignitaries waded in.
Osodeke however clarified that the union had not yet declared a strike.