ASUU: Lecturers give fresh condition to end strike

Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has demanded that the Federal Government to release N50 billion to the institutions to show its commitment.

ASUU said this will demonstrate the FG’s commitment to the revitalisation of public universities, in line with previous agreements with their union.

The striking lecturers gave this as a condition for calling off its strike.

The N50 billion, the union said, “will form the first tranche of the N220 billion government agreed for the project this year and add to the N20 billion earlier released for the year.”

The President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who disclosed this, said the union was not asking the government to release the whole N220 billion at once.

The Academic unions embarked on the strike, which started since November 4 to press for improved funding of universities and implementation of previous agreements with the government.

ASUU wants implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU; 2012 and 2013) and Memorandum of Action (MoA, 2017) and the truncation of the renegotiation of the union’s agreements.

The lecturers are also asking the government to release funds for the revitalisation of public universities, based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013 and the MoA of 2017, among other issues.