ASUU: Hold govt responsible for our next action

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have asked Nigerians to hold the Federal Government responsible for their next action due to government’s failure to honour an agreement it signed with them.

ASUU spoke of a plan to hold an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) this week with its leaders and principal officials to decide its members’ next line of action.

The union said it will follow-up its NEC meeting with consultations with all its chapters should the government fail to implement its promises to aggrieved lecturers.

ASUU’s latest threat followed the expiration of the August 31 deadline issued to the Federal Government to meet its demands.

Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige again could be reached for reaction as the several calls placed to his mobile phone last night were not returned.

ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke said the NEC would convene to weigh available options and take a position.

The lecturers called off their eight-month strike in December last year after ASUU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government.

After several complaints of breach of agreement, the federal government team, led by Ngige, met with the lecturers on August 2 to review the level of implementation of the MoU.

Ngige said the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will release N30 billion as revitalisation fund to universities the following week.

Osodeke however accused the government of failing to release the money and implement other agreements after the August meeting. He alleged government officials have stopped picking calls from ASUU leaders.

Prof Osodeke said: “ASUU never proposed a strike, we said if government does not meet all our demands by the end of August, the union will meet and consider the action to take.

“But the country should hold the government responsible for any action we take and that was what we said we didn’t mention embarking on strike.

“The ASUU president cannot just wake up one morning and pronounce we are going on strike not even the principal officers, we have to go through our branches. The ultimatum will end today so we will hold a meeting with our members to determine the way forward,” he said.

(The Nation)