ASUU extends ongoing strike by 12 weeks

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has extended its ongoing strike for another 12 weeks.

The union announced this in a statement signed by its president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, saying the extension was meant to give the Federal Government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.

Osodeke added that the roll-over strike was effective from 12.01 am May 8, 2021.

The union said the decision was taken following its National Executive Council meeting which took place at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja.

The statement reads in part; “The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) held an emergency meeting on Sunday, 8th May 2022 at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, Abuja.

"After extensive deliberations, noting Government’s failure to live up to its responsibilities and speedily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA) within the additional eight-week roll–over strike period declared on 14th March 2022, NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for twelve weeks to give Government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.

“The meeting was called to review developments since the Union declared an eight-week total and comprehensive roll-over strike action at the end of its emergency NEC meeting at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, Abuja on 14th March, 2022.

"The strike action came on the heels of the Government’s failure to satisfactorily implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) it signed with the Union in December 2020 on renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), funding for revitalization of public universities (both Federal and States), proliferation and governance issues in State Universities, promotion arrears, withheld salaries (owed for over 20 months in some cases), and Non-emittance of third-party deductions.”

Recall that in February, ASUU declared a one-month warning strike to press home their demands from the Federal Government.