Strike: ASUU Rejects FG’s Last-Minute Appeal, Says Move Came Too Late

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has dismissed the Federal Government’s last-minute appeal to suspend its proposed warning strike, describing the intervention as belated and unconvincing.

ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, said this on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, accusing the government of failing to act promptly on the union’s long-standing demands despite repeated warnings.

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According to Piwuna, the government’s response only came two working days before the union’s 14-day ultimatum is due to expire.

“The problem we have with this government and the Ministry of Education is that they are slow in responding to our demands,” Piwuna said.

“We went for a meeting in Sokoto, and at that time, we were about to embark on a strike action. They gave us three weeks, which we accepted, but we never heard a word from them until the three weeks elapsed — not even a courtesy call to explain any delay. Nothing, until we threatened action.”

The union had, at its National Executive Council meeting held on September 28 at the University of Abuja, issued a 14-day ultimatum for the government to meet its key demands or face industrial action.

Among ASUU’s major demands are the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU agreement, sustainable funding and revitalisation of public universities, and an end to alleged victimisation of union members at Lagos State University, Kogi State University, and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

Piwuna said that despite several months of engagement, little progress had been made toward implementing any of these agreements.

“Yesterday, they appealed to us not to embark on action. Our 2009 agreement — which is still being renegotiated after eight years — remains undone. Two working days before a strike action, you come to appeal to us. I think the appeal has come a little too late,” he said.

He noted that the union’s ultimatum would expire on Sunday, October 12, after which the two-week warning strike would commence if no meaningful response comes from the government.

“Unless something substantial comes out from the government in the next 48 hours, our members will decide the next line of action,” he said.

The latest standoff follows Wednesday’s statement by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who urged ASUU to shelve the planned strike while assuring that President Bola Tinubu had directed the government’s negotiating team to find a lasting solution to the union’s grievances.

Alausa said the Yayale Ahmed-led Expanded Negotiation Committee was set to meet ASUU with a new counteroffer as part of efforts to avert the strike.

However, Piwuna maintained that the government’s promises had come too late and lacked concrete commitments to resolving issues that have lingered for over a decade.