The universities’ academic staff union has been on strike for more than four months, and the issue of the ASUU strike is nothing new to the Nigerian student. The federal government has been scolded by the Nigerian Union of Medical and Health Workers for failing to take the necessary steps to get the strike to end. The union has threatened to call a labor strike if the government does not see reasons with ASUU to end the strike.
The Universities Academic Staff Union, Non-Academic Staff Union, and several tertiary academic bodies declared an industrial strike action to put pressure on the government to meet its key demand, which is a memorandum of action signed in December 2020 concerning adequate funding for the universities. Other basic demands are the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, the vacillating question of integrated payroll and payroll accounting, and several others.
MHWUN National President Biobelomoye Josiah and Acting Secretary-General Auwalu Kiyawa in a meeting with the press described the government’s response to the issue at hand as “a motion with no movement”.
According to the union, “No responsible government in this 21st century would close down its public higher education institutions over patriotic demands for better university funding and good welfare for its faculty and non-faculty. That’s shameful.
Discerning minds will agree that the negative impact of the strike on the future of our children and Nigeria, in general, cannot be quantified. We call on people of goodwill to stand up for the rights and future of our children and Nigeria by urging the government to do the right thing and get these children back into the classroom.
“We strongly condemn the government’s lethargic attitude in solving the disputed issues. To protect the future of our young people whose academic life is being disrupted, we call on the government to implement immediately all the agreements it has reached with the unions.”
There’s a popular saying that when two elephants fight the grass suffers the pain. We hope FG reasons with ASUU to end the strike
