ASUU strike update: ASUU conditionally suspends strike

The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), has officially called off its 36 days old strike, following successful deliberations with the federal government on Monday.

The announcement was made by the ASUU National President, Biodun Ogunyemi, who also noted that the suspension of the strike is only provisional until October to allow the government fulfill its promises to ASUU.

Ogunyemi said the strike suspension will give enough time for the government to fulfill the demands made by the union.

The ASUU leadership also directed lecturers to resume duty from Tuesday, September 19.

A memorandum of action was signed between the two negotiating parties.

The minister of labour, Senator Chris Ngige, who led the federal government delegation, had earlier said both parties produced “collective agreement of action” after the meeting.

Briefing Journalist after the meeting which ended at about 7.55pm, the minister said all the gray areas have been sorted out and an agreement reached.

In his own words, ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi said:

“We have signed a new Memorandum of Action today (Monday). Each item on the list in the MoA has a timeline attached. It is our hope that our trust will not be dashed again. We hope that the government will abide with the timeline attached to all the items in the MoA.

“Let us give a precautionary advice; should the government unilaterally vary the agreements it signed with our union, we should not be held responsible for the consequences.”

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“Now on the conditional suspension of the strike; after an elaborate and extensive consultation process, the National Executive Council of ASUU has agreed to conditionally suspend the ongoing action, taking into cognizance that the latest proposal by the government to address the contentious issues in the strike has a deadline of the end of October 2017.

“So, all members of ASUU are to resume work after their branch congresses on Tuesday (today), September 19. However, ASUU will not hesitate to review its position, should the government renege on its MoA, which you all witnessed today.

“There is always a question that why must ASUU adopt the strike option considering its impact on the quality of education which the union wants to raise. The answer to this is simple. ASUU’s resolve to forge a hitch-free academic calendar has been proved by the restraints it often showed before embarking on the strike.

“The current strike has been necessitated by the non-implementation of the 2009 agreement and the 2013 MoU and the 2016 resolutions. Specifically, the issues include funding for the revitalisation of universities, earned academic allowances and exemption of the university system from the Treasury Single Account.”

Recall ASUU embarked on an indefinite nationwide  strike on August 13, following government’s inability to implement the agreement reached with the union in November 2016.

See video below showing students’ frustrations while the ASUU strike lasted.