Following the Federal Government's failure to reach an agreement with the national body of the union through negotiations, several branches of the Academic Staff Union of Universities at state-owned universities have decided to continue on strike.
Calls for the strike to be suspended in state-owned colleges were criticized as "ignorant" by the chairs of ASUU in the affected state universities, who talked with our correspondents in separate interviews.
According to The PUNCH, the national body of ASUU launched a countrywide strike on Monday, February 14, 2022, which halted academic activities at federal universities and certain state-owned colleges across the nation.
The national body had requested, among other things, that the Federal Government release funds for university revitalization, earned allowances, deploy the University Transparency Accountability System for paying lecturers' salaries and benefits, and release a white paper on the visitation panels for universities.
Despite the withdrawal of certain state universities from the strike, including Kwara State University, Lagos State University, Osun State University, and Kaduna State University, our reporters found that the bulk of state-owned universities are still on strike.
These institutions of higher learning include Ekiti State University, Gombe State University, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Tai-Solarin University of Education, in Ogun State; Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, in Oyo State; Adekunle Ajasin University, in Ondo State; Bauchi State University; Benue State University; Ibrahim Babaginda University, in Niger; Yusuf Maitama Sule University.
Benue State College
Dr. Tarnongu Kwaghfan, the university's ASUU chairman, stressed that classes wouldn't start up again until the national leadership of the union gave their approval.
Because the institution is a part of both the National Delegate Conference of ASUU and the National Executive Council of ASUU, he declared, "Benue State University is on strike. This is not a sympathy strike. Therefore, we participate in the union's decision-making process. Those who claim that we are on a sympathy strike are ignorant.
The ASUU head of BSU responded that whatever deal that the Federal Government and the union struck must be carried out by the states when asked what would happen if it could not be executed by the states.
Ajasin University of Nigeria
There is no federal or state ASUU, according to Prof. Simon Ehiabhi, chairman of the university's ASUU. ASUU is a solitary organization with chapters. State institutions that have subscribed to ASUU are branches of ASUU, which is what you now have. similar to how there is only one Nigerian Teachers Union. Neither a federal nor a state NUT exist. You don't have a federal or state JAMB, just as there is only one Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board that administers the UTME. The same way you only have one NECO and one WAEC, so does ASUU.
Therefore, the strike has been approved by all union branches at the congress and no branch of the union can withdraw.
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