The Academic Staff Union of Universities has given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to address a range of unresolved issues, warning of potential further actions if their demands are not met.
According to The PUNCH, the ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, announced this ultimatum during a press briefing held at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, on Wednesday.
He highlighted several key issues that the union expects the government to resolve, including the “emergency revitalisation fund for public universities, payment of outstanding earned academic allowances, and the release of withheld salaries, promotion arrears, and third-party deductions.”
Additionally, Osodeke mentioned concerns over “illegal recruitments, the proliferation of public universities, and the abuse of university laws, regulations, and processes.”
He also called for the removal of universities from the Treasury Single Account and the implementation of a new Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System to promote university autonomy.
ASUU’s decision follows a National Executive Council meeting held at the University of Ibadan from August 17 to 18, 2024, where the union reviewed the status of its engagements with both Federal and State Governments.
Osodeke expressed deep frustration with the government’s failure to address longstanding issues that have hindered the development of Nigeria’s universities.
“The meeting further appraised worsening living and working conditions in our universities and the nation at large,” Osodeke said, adding that reports presented to the NEC indicated a lack of urgency from the government in addressing the ongoing crisis.
He also voiced concern over the exodus of seasoned academics to countries with better working conditions, stating that “seasoned and experienced scholars have continued to flee to countries that are less resource-endowed, but where their expertise is better appreciated.”
Osodeke criticized the government’s approach, accusing it of being “fixated on its self-serving approach of legalistic and bureaucratic arm-twisting.”
Reflecting on the union’s decade-long struggle, Osodeke lamented that issues such as the renegotiation and signing of the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement, as well as the need for impactful funding, remain unresolved. Consequently, ASUU’s NEC resolved to issue a 21-day ultimatum to the government, with plans to reconvene after the deadline to decide on the next steps.
“We condemn in strong terms the seeming refusal of Federal and State Governments to decisively address all outstanding issues with ASUU,” Osodeke asserted, adding that the union “rejects the slow pace of intervention by the Minister for Education in resolving the aforementioned issues.”
ASUU reaffirmed its commitment to national dialogue while rejecting “ethnic suspicion, religious bigotry, plutocratic tendencies, and other practices that threaten our peaceful coexistence and collective happiness as a people of one nation.”
