Educaton

Strike Continues, Says ASUU

University teachers said yesterday that their strike will go on — 89 days after it began.
This is in spite of the intervention by Vice President Namadi Sambo in bringing the lecturers back to the negotiation table.
The teachers are seeking proper funding of education and the payment of their N87 billion earned allowances.

These are part of the 2009 agreement between the teachers and the government. The government has offered N30 billion for the earned allowances and made available N100billion for projects on the campuses. The lecturers rejected the offer. The strike has been on since July 1.
The latest position of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella association of the teachers to go on with the strike, was made known yesterday by University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter Chairman Dr. Karo Ogbinika, in a statement.
According to him, ASUU last month pulled out of the negotiation with the Federal Government, which was represented by Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam, based on the government’s insincerity and non-commitment.
He said the Presidency intervened, calling for another round of meetings with Vice President Namadi Sambo last week which, according to ASUU, also ended in a stalemate.
The union said it was disappointed because it hoped the Presidency’s intervention would dampen the tension the strike had generated; but, rather, the government was re-echoing the same stance by Suswam, which was why ASUU withdrew from the negotiation.
ASUU said: “After the meeting on September 19 with the Vice-President, it is clear that the Federal Government is merely paying lip service to education in Nigeria and deceiving the public on its commitment to its transformation agenda.
“The Nigerian people should not be deceived. How can there be a meaningful transformation when the education sector is neglected and gradually taken over by private entrepreneurs, including government functionaries who are busy bulding private universities with stolen funds in and outside Nigeria. Can these universities be truly called private?
“ASUU is assuring Nigerians that it will not back out in its struggle to ensure that the government is made to do what is right in the education sector. This is a commitment that all members of the union have vowed to pursue to its logical conclusion.”
The union said it had reported back to its various zones many of which still insisted the strike must continue.”
Hundreds of students of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) yesterday gave the Federal Government a one week ultimatum to meet all the demands of ASUU or face the wrath of students.
The students, who staged a peaceful protest, urged the Federal Government to respect and implement the 2009 ASUU/FG agreement.
Addressing the protesters at the BUK gate, the university’s Students Union President, Sani Ibrahim, said they were forced to stage the protest, “because we are tired of staying at home”. “Our mates in other countries are in school; why should the case of Nigerian students be different?”
“As part of the struggle to fight for our right is being pursued, I will like to salute our students for their patience while receiving the negative consequences of bad governance. We believe that the delay in resuming lectures in our universities is not only lamentable but also devastating. We believe even more strongly that now is the time to let our leaders know that enough is enough and we shall wake up and say ‘no’ to injustice being meted out to Nigerian students.
“We also call on the government to review the annual budget for the education sector from eight per cent to 26 per cent, so as to ensure adequate rehabilitation of infrastructure in our universities, including hostels, laboratories, potable water and constant supply of electricity.
“We are calling on ASUU to give government more opportunity to dialogue so as to quickly resolve the differences in the best interest of Nigerian students. We are giving ASUU and the Federal Government one week to sort things out and resume lectures; otherwise Nigerian students will look for other alternatives to fight for our right. Education is our right and no one should take it away from us,” Ibrahim noted.
But for the intervention of the police, who pleaded with the protesting students, they would have taken to the streets.
ASUU members at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) insisted yesterday that they would not return to work, until the Federal Government resolves the issues.
This was contrary to a report that the management was already consulting with the striking lecturers on the need to call back the students by end of this month.
The union urged Vice-Chancellor Prof. Femi Mimiko to toe the path of rule of law and refrain from any desperate act of self-help in his attempt to reopen the university.
In a statement by their counsel, Mr. Charles Titiloye, the union noted with great concern the threat by the vice-chancellor to re-open the University for academic activities, despite of the strike.
The union warned that it would not allow contract lecturers or newly employed graduate fellows to be used to resume teaching in the school.
RELATED ARTICLE: ASUU Strike: NUT Threatens To Shut Down Schools
RELATED ARTICLE: ASUU Vows To Resist Attempts To Recall Students To 

ASUU Vows To Resist Attempts To Recall Students To Campus

27 September, 2013
Education

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) advised parents to keep their children at home, warning that members were ready to resist the management’s plans to recall students to campus despite the ongoing strike.

Vice Chancellor, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Prof. Femi Mimiko

This advise followed a statement by the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Olufemi Mimiko, who said he would reopen the institution if ASUU failed to call off its strike.

He said, “We have unbroken four-year academic calendar before the strike started. The strike has affected our programmes. It is not in the interest of our students. We hope ASUU will call off the strike soon, if not, we are considering taking a measure to bring our students back to the campus," he said.

The Chairman of ASUU AAUA, Dr. Busayo Mekusi, however, called the VC’s plan “an attempt to plunge the institution into an unending crisis.”
Mekusi told journalists in Akure on Thursday that the strike would continue and AAUA branch was committed to what he called “the revamping of public universities in the country.”

“We advise parents to restrain their wards from heeding the call as ASUU AAUA is still on strike, anybody trying to break the ongoing strike meant to better the lots of our students of tomorrow is an enemy of our future. All the members of the union should disregard this,” he stated.

Mekusi debunked the claims that the university had no subsisting agreement with the FG, saying that the ongoing struggle had given AAUA access to N1.05bn from the FG allocation.
He recalled that the state universities were duly represented during the negotiation and signing of 2009 agreement with the FG, and this account for why AAUA has been benefitting from the proceeds of ASUU struggle.
Meanwhile, the Ibadan acting zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, in a statement on Thursday said,

"After the meeting of Tuesday, September 19 with the Vice-President Namadi Sambo, it is clear that the Federal Government is merely paying lip-service to education in Nigeria and deceiving the Nigerian public on their commitment to its transformation agenda."

He warned students and parents not to be deceived with the agenda of the government, saying the strike was in the interest of Nigeria’s educational system.
RELATED ARTICLE:
Strike Continues, Says ASUU
ASUU STRIKE: Return To Classrooms, Jonathan Begs Union
 ASUU Strike Will Be Over Soon - Jonathan Declares
ASUU STRIKE: Senate President, David Mark Begs ASUU To Call Off Strike