The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given the federal government a two-week ultimatum to meet its demands, failing which the union may embark on strike.
ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen on Monday.
According to Osodeke, the union had agreed with the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, to meet again in two weeks to assess the progress made on their demands. “We will meet to see the progress the government has made and determine our next line of action if they fail to implement the agreements reached,” he said.
The demands include the implementation of the 2009 re-negotiated agreements, academic allowances, revitalization fund, and the exit of the university salary payment from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System. Osodeke lamented that only one of the demands had been met since 2013, stressing the need for revitalization funds to upgrade universities to standard.
The ASUU president also criticized the proliferation of universities without adequate funding, saying many new universities were being approved without funds to run them. The union’s decision to strike or not will be determined by the government’s response to their demands within the next two weeks.
