Nwafor Okafor
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has threatened a fresh strike, any moment soon over Federal Government failure to meet the outstanding demands as contained in the renegotiation agreement between the two parties.
The university teachers said the would lockdown universities nationwide and nothing would make the union call off the strike on commencement unless all agreements thereto were signed and fully implemented.
The chairman of ASUU Nnamdi Azikwe University chapter , Dr. Steven Uforo stated this at a press conference on campus.
He regretted that the Union’s magnanimity had been taken for granted, lamenting that most timelines specified in various agreements had been breached for over 12 calendar months.
He said, “The industrial harmony in public universities in Nigeria is being threatened by failure of Federal Government of Nigerian to honour the agreement she willingly entered with ASUU Members on 23rd December, 2020.
“As a tradition of our great Union, this press conference is an early warning shot that we are reluctantly being driven to the point of entering another vicious cycle barely one year since the last traumatic experience.
“We use this opportunity to appeal to well-meaning Nigerian including our religious leaders, traditional rulers, parents, students, the Civil Society Organisations (CSO) and indeed every stakeholder to prevail on the Federal Government to fulfill the agreements reached with ASUU so as to save our public Universities from being short down again.
“We appeal to student bodies, parents and the masses to join ASUU in the struggle to save the soul of our public Universities before it will go the way of public secondary and primary schools in Nigeria.
“We are all aware that more than 95% of public office holder send their children to foreign Universities with tax payers’ money and refuse to fund public universities. This cannot be allowed to continue.
“We once again alert Nigerians, that unless the federal government strives to sincerely resolve these issues, there will be no rest for us all. There will be no more MOUs or MOAs.
“When the macabre dance begins, there will be no stopping it until everything is fully implemented. The insincerity of the federal government is not just beyond understanding, it is beyond tolerance. Join us once again to walk this talk.”
