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Senate Sets Up Committee To Address ASUU, FG Impasse

The Nigerian Senate has set up a committee to address the industrial crisis between the Federal Government and officials of the Academic Staff Union of … Continue reading Senate Sets Up Committee To Address ASUU, FG Impasse


Senate, Presidency, Intervention Funds.

Senate, Presidency, Intervention Funds.The Nigerian Senate has set up a committee to address the industrial crisis between the Federal Government and officials of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Setting up the committee on Wednesday, Senate President Bukola Saraki said it would liaise with the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office to look into the outstanding financial demands of the union.

Dr Saraki set up the committee during a meeting with ASUU officials in Abuja.

He told members of the union that the Senate was mindful of the longstanding issues between the union and the Federal Government, but stressed that the upper chamber wanted a resolution of the problem.

ASUU is embarking on a one week warning strike to protest the failure of the Federal Government to implement terms of the 2009 and 2013 agreements.

Academic activities were shut down in most institutions across Nigeria on Wednesday, as a result of an industrial action by the union to push their demands.

The directive for the nationwide strike was given by the national secretariat of the union.

Explaining why the union embarked on the strike, the Chairman of ASUU, University Of Uyo Chapter, Dr Aniekan Brown, who personally monitored the exercise to ensure compliance, told Channels Television that she was glad that the industrial action had enjoyed 100% compliance in line with the directive.

“The one week warning strike is informed by the inability of the federal government to honor the agreement reached with ASUU on a number of issues, which you already know.

“The most important, being that the public universities are still underfunded.”

While she stressed that all public universities in Nigeria were expected to take part in the exercise, she added that “some of our colleagues are still receiving factional salaries and so on”.

ASUU, recession
Adelaja Odukoya

In Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos, the ASUU Chairman for the University of Lagos, (UNILAG), Mr Adelaja Odukoya, explained the reasons for their decision.

He said the Federal Government had failed to deliver on its 2009 Agreement and 2013 MoU.

According to him, the government is owing over 800 billion Naira, funds which he said were meant to upgrade the university system, in attempts to make them globally competitive.

Although the union claims there is widespread compliance, not all schools complied with the warning strike.

Lecturers at the University of Ilorin refused to join the strike, citing non-recognition of the local branch by the national leadership for their action.

The branch Chairman of ASUU, Dr Uthman Raheem, explained that since 15 years, the national leadership of the union had severed relationship with the local branch due to crisis with the management years ago where 44 lecturers were suspended.