The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday extended its six-month-old strike after series of discussions.
The union made the decision after the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the striking varsity teachers at the University of Abuja.
It is unclear how long the union extended the industrial action.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, in an interview with The PUNCH, last week said that “It is unreasonable for the strike to be lingering seeing as the government has worked towards fulfilling most of the demands.”
Read also Strike: ‘nothing has been officially offered’ – ASUU National President
Goong said, “the government has already inaugurated a committee to harmonise the IPPIS, UTAS, and UP3. This will ensure that the government will pay with only one payment platform that will harmonise all the technical peculiarities.”
Recall that on February 14, ASUU embarked on a four-week warning strike to protest the non-implementation of its demands by the federal government.
On March 14, the union extended the industrial action by another two months to allow the government meet all of its demands.
On May 9, a 12-week extension was announced.
The union has vowed to persist until its demands are met. ASUU has been on strike with another 4-week extension announced on August 1.
ASUU’s demands
The union is seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands.
One main issue for the union is the non-payment of university revitalisation funds, which amounts to about N1.1 trillion, an agreement that was struck in 2009.
The Federal Government on its part said it doesn’t have the money to pay such an amount and that it will not borrow to meet ASUU’s demands.
Another bone of contention is the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), to which ASUU proposed an alternative, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
