Strike: Our NEC will decide – Osodeke, ASUU President

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has disclosed that the National Executive Council, NEC, of the union, will decide on whether members should go on strike over some demands made.

The union president has said that the union is still consulting and sensitizing members on the issues involved.

In a chat with Vanguard, he said the declaration of Monday, February 7 as a lecture-free day was to sensitize members and also show the displeasure of the union with the way the government was handling the matter.

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“We declared Monday as a lecture-free day for members to sensitize our members and let the government know that we are not happy with the manner the issue is being handled. After all this, we will collate the views and opinions of our members from across the country.”

“Based on what our members say, the National Executive Council, NEC, of our great union will meet and decide whether to resume our suspended strike or not. The leaders of the union don’t act unilaterally, we act based on what our members ask us to do,” he said.

On the claim by the government that it is experiencing a paucity of funds and might not meet all the demands of the union, Osodeke noted that everything boils down to prioritizing issues.

According to him, not all the demands have to be met spending money, as some are policy matters, citing the demand of replacing the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, IPPIS, with the University Transparency and Accountability System, UTAS.

Meanwhile, the zonal leadership of the union is expected to collate views of their branches on the issue this week for onward transmission to the national leadership.

The Lagos Zone of the union, for instance, has fixed a meeting for Tuesday at the University of Lagos, UNILAG.

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Recall that only a few days ago, President Muhammadu Buhari urged ASUU to take note of the fact that the government is facing liquidity challenges and being under serious fiscal pressure.

He, however, said the government was committed to honoring the promises made to the union and directed the Ministers of Education, Labour, and Finance to liaise with the union to ward off any strike by the members.

Buhari spoke when he received members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Credit: ALLSCHOOL, Vanguard