Nigerian Government Not Showing Interest In Public Universities – ASUU

Two days to the expiration of the warning strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the National President of the union, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke says “nothing tangible has been done”.

Saturday Punch reports that the union had on Monday, February 14, 2022, declared a total and comprehensive four-week warning strike.

The strike, according to the union, was due to the failure of the government to implement the agreement the Federal Government signed with the union in 2009.

ASUU had also accused the Federal Government of working against the deployment of the UTAS, a payment platform designed by ASUU in lieu of the IPPIS payment system.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had summoned meetings with the union and other ministries and agencies in a bid to change the mind of the striking lecturers.

The minister in an interview with Punch had also said that ASUU’s demands were currently being implemented.

But Osodeke said nothing tangible had been done.

In an interview with Channels Television, which was monitored by Saturday Punch, Osodeke said, “Nothing tangible has been done so far. We have met with the Minister of Labour twice.

“We gave a room for them (NIREC) to intervene and they did. What we see is a lack of will and lack of interest in the public university system.

“The strike didn’t need to last more than one week if the government had taken it seriously. When they had problem in Ukraine where the sons of the rich were studying, we saw how fast they released money, but in the country where the children of the poor are studying, nothing has been done.”

-Punch