ASUU strike Looms

The Coordinator, Lagos Zone of ASUU, Dr. Adelaja Odukoya (Middle) at a news briefing held at the University of Lagos.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has appealed to well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the federal government to sign and implement the Renegotiated 2009 Federal government-ASUU Agreement to prevent another round of strike in the Nation’s public universities.

The Coordinator, Lagos Zone of ASUU, Dr. Adelaja Odukoya
made the plea at a news conference held at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos.

Other issues the Union wants the Federal Government to attend to are the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), funding of State Universities, non-payment of withheld salaries of lecturers, checkoffs and
promotion arrears.

He said already, the Union had made concerted efforts to get the federal government to address the issues contained in the Renegotiated 2009 Federal government-ASUU Agreement to no avail.

He explained that his Union was not pleased with the fact that the Federal Government was yet to sign and implement the renegotiated agreement nine months after the conclusion of the agreement.

Dr. Odukoya said that non-implementation of the agreement had made his members to remain on the same salaries since 2009 despite the unfavorable econonmic situation in the country.

Speaking on the state public universities in the country, Dr. Odukoya said that funding and infrastructural decay in state-owned Universities were yet to get the desired attention from state and federal governments.

The ASUU Lagos Zonal Coordinator stressed that the issue of irregular or non-payment of salaries and subventions in state universities were of great concern to our union.

He appealed to the government to attend to the agreement it had entered into with ASUU in the interest of the nation’s public university system.

Dr. Odukoya also appealed to state governments with-holding the salaries of ASUU members in their state for a period ranging from three to eight months to pay the lecturers so as to enable the workers to cater for themselves and their families.

Earlier, Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU Lagos Zone matched from the Julius Berger hall within the University of Lagos to the gate of the University, chanting solidarity songs to sensitize the academic community on their grouse with the federal government over non implementation of the renegotiated 2009 agreement.