In a statement released yesterday, the union’s president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the decision was made to give the government adequate time to resolve any outstanding issues with the lecturers.
The ASUU President stated that the extension will take effect on August 1 with immediate effect after noting that the body had communicated an emergency National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting of the union at the University of Abuja on Sunday.
The statement read: “Following extensive deliberations and taking cognisance of government’s past failures to abide by its own timelines in addressing issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action, MOA, NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for four weeks to give Government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.
The roll-over strike action is with effect from 12.01 am on Monday, 1st August 2022,” the statement read.
“An emergency meeting of the National Executive Council of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, held at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, Abuja, on Sunday, July 31, 2022.
”The meeting was called to review developments since NEC’s resolution to extend its roll-over strike action by another 12 weeks with effect from May 2022.
Speaking further in the statement, ASUU said, “NEC viewed with seriousness the recent directive given by the President and Visitor to all Federal Universities that the Minister of Education, in consultation with other government officials, should resolve the lingering crisis and report to him within two weeks.
“NEC acknowledged the growing understanding of the issues and the groundswell of support for the union’s principled demand for globally competitive university education in Nigeria. Nigerian universities must not be reduced to constituency projects that merely exist on paper, and our scholars must be incentivised to stay back and do what they know best, here in Nigeria.
“NEC appreciated the historic nationwide protest of July 26 and 27, 2022, organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress in collaboration with civil society organisations to further create awareness of the antics of the Nigerian ruling class to destroy public education. ASUU renews its commitment to the NLC’s struggles in championing the cause of Nigeria’s working and suffering people.
“NEC observed that the non-signing of the draft renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement more than one month after it was concluded by the Professor Nimi Briggs-led committee is further testing the patience of ASUU members nationwide.”
Recall that ASUU on Monday, February 14, 2022, announced the commencement of a strike over the failure of the government to meet lingering demands of the union.
