The University of Jos chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Friday said it is fully ready to join the nationwide strike if the government fails to meet up with the 14-day ultimatum given to it by the National Executive Committee of the union to address unresolved issues including the reconstitution of the governing councils of federal universities.
According to The PUNCH, this was made known in Jos by ASUU chairman, Jurbe Molwus.
He said that workers in the federal university had been mobilised for the action.
“The Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Jos branch held its meeting on Friday 17th May 2024 and took a report of the National Executive Council meeting that was held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May 2024.
“The union at the branch comprehensively reviewed the report and deliberated extensively on the status of the union’s engagement with the federal and state governments on the lingering issues.
“Given a critical review of the current state of affairs in our public universities as well as in our nation at large bearing in mind the hardship being faced by our members and the Nigerian masses, the University of Jos branch of ASUU strongly aligns with the position of NEC in giving the government a 14-day ultimatum to do the needful to avoid breakdown of industrial harmony.
“Our Congress is undoubtedly, fully mobilized even as we hope that government will be responsive and act responsibly”, Molwus stated.
The ASUU chairman lamented the failure of the federal and state governments to keep to their promises towards addressing the lingering issues that forced the union to embark on the nationwide strike that lasted for eight months in 2022.
He said it was sad that the Federal Government had not paid the backlog of the earned academic allowances owed its members more than one year after they were captured in the 2023 National Budget for Federal Universities.
He disclosed that a report from NEC indicated that an increasing number of their members had died while thousands of others were nursing life-threatening ailments occasioned by work-related stress, absolute pauperization and multidimensional insecurity.
