The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike (AE-FUNAI) branch, has issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its outstanding demands on or before Aug. 28 or risk industrial action.
Dr Louis Omenyi, Chairperson of the Union in the institution, disclosed this on Tuesday during a press briefing at the university in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
He said members of the union nationwide had become restive due to what he described as the government’s persistent failure to implement agreements reached with ASUU over the years.
“We state unequivocally that without urgent government intervention in these irreducible minimum demands of our union, industrial harmony can no longer be guaranteed,” Omenyi said.
According to him, the demands include the immediate signing and implementation of the draft renegotiated 2009 Agreement between the union and the Federal Government.
Other issues, he said, were the release of three months’ outstanding salaries of members and payment of third-party deductions being withheld under the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
The union also wanted the payment of promotion arrears, the implementation of mainstreamed Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) in members’ salaries and the removal of threats to university autonomy and academic freedom.
Omenyi further demanded the immediate withdrawal of ASUU from being compelled to guarantee members for the Students’ Loan Scheme under the Tertiary Institutions Students Support Fund (TISSF).
He added that the union was also calling for an end to the alleged victimisation of its members in Kogi State University, now Prince Abubakar Audu University; Lagos State University, and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).
The ASUU leader lamented what he termed government’s deliberate indifference to the plight of lecturers, stressing that the union has exhausted all avenues of dialogue and consultation in the interest of peace and stability in the nation’s universities.
“We have been very patient and consistent in our engagements with government, but it appears that our genuine sacrifices are being taken for granted; enough is enough,” he said.
Omenyi noted that ASUU remained committed to quality education and the defence of university autonomy, but insisted that lecturers could not continue to work under poor conditions and deliberate neglect.
He called on well-meaning Nigerians, traditional rulers, opinion leaders and civil society organisations to prevail on government to avert another nationwide disruption of academic activities.
“Industrial action is always our last resort, but when government fails to meet its obligations, we have no other choice; the ball is now in the court of government,” he added.
Our correspondent recalls that ASUU and the Federal Government have had a long history of disagreements over funding of universities, welfare of lecturers and implementation of agreements.
The non implementation of these agreements had often led to several protracted strikes that crippled academic calendars across public universities.
In 2020, the union embarked on a nine-month strike, one of the longest in its history, over issues bordering on revitalisation of universities, salaries, and IPPIS.
Another eight-month strike in 2022 over similar demands forced government to seek intervention from the judiciary before lecturers eventually returned to class.
Our correspondent reports that stakeholders fear that a fresh industrial action could worsen the challenges in Nigeria’s public universities, with millions of students already struggling to recover from previous disruptions.
The lecturers within the university’s campus to drive home their leading to academic activities in the institution being paralysed.
