The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has disclosed that it delayed its proposed nationwide strike to give the Federal Government additional time to address its concerns.
Speaking exclusively with the Nigerian Tribune, ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, explained that the union chose to defer the strike despite mounting pressure from its members.
“But up till now, several months after, government has not done anything concrete as regards all our issues,” Osodeke said. “We are still on the same old narrative, and as a union, it is time for us to take action on our proposed strike, and that will be early January if government still refuses to do the needful by then.”
According to Osodeke, ASUU leadership had been urging patience among its members, who have grown increasingly frustrated over the government’s inaction. He revealed that during the union’s last general meeting in November, the leadership pleaded with members to allow the government to use November and December to address their demands.
“When we met in November, the leadership had to plead with members to allow government to use the months of November and December to address our concerns, thinking it would have done so by now, but here we are on the same old story,” he lamented. “So, now, we are going to reconvene our meeting early January and take a decisive direction immediately if nothing is done by then by the government.”
Osodeke noted that the congress of the union had already endorsed industrial action as the next step. The leadership, he added, would now move forward to implement this decision. He also clarified that ASUU would not need to issue a fresh notice for the strike, as it had already complied with labour laws by giving prior notice multiple times without the government taking meaningful action.
With January fast approaching, the union has made it clear that its patience is exhausted, leaving the Federal Government with limited time to address ASUU’s lingering grievances.
