The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a stern warning that it may resume a nationwide strike if the Federal Government fails to meet the union’s demands at the expiration of its one-month ultimatum.
Speaking at a press conference in Kano on Monday, the Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Abdulkadir Muhammad, said the one-month ultimatum issued to the government to meet the union’s demands was about to lapse.
He warned that failure of the government to act could lead to a total shutdown of universities.
Representatives from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Bayero University Kano (BUK), Kaduna State University (KASU), Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology (ADUSTECH), Federal University Dutse (FUD), Northwest University (NWU), and Sule Lamido University (SLUK) attended the meeting.
Muhammad lamented the “sluggish approach” of the Federal Government in renegotiating agreements aimed at improving Nigeria’s public university system. “Our hope for a holistic and timely resolution of the issues is increasingly being dashed. “It is unfortunate that some government functionaries employ different tactics to undermine the renegotiation process and misinform the public on the state of our engagements,” he told newsmen.
The lecturers had, in October, suspended their warning strike with a month-long ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet their demands, which centred around their welfare and providing a conducive teaching and learning environment.
Muhammad said the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) expressed dissatisfaction during its meeting at Taraba State University on November 8 and 9, highlighting the slow pace of talks as a major obstacle to meaningful resolution. He stressed that the Federal Government has yet to demonstrate a genuine commitment to improving lecturers’ welfare or addressing factors that drive brain drain from universities.
“What government has offered will neither improve working conditions nor attract scholars from abroad,” he added.
ASUU also urged the FG to place a moratorium on the establishment of state universities, noting that governors often create such institutions without ensuring proper funding. “Governors have cultivated the habit of establishing universities in their states without commitment to funding them,” he said.
