Education

FG’s ₦52.5bn Fund Not Enough To Avert Strike – ASUU

Published

3 years ago

Jan 2, 2022.

Osodeke described the fund released by the government as a token payment…

EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the ₦30bn Revitalisation Fund and ₦22.5bn Earned Academic Allowance totalling ₦52.5bn released by the Federal Government is not enough to deal with the challenges facing the university system.

The ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, said that there was a possibility that the union would still go on strike, unless the government addressed its demands, including the 2009 agreement.

Osodeke described the fund released by the government as a token payment, adding that it was not enough for lecturers to change their minds on the suspended strike.

He, therefore, asked the Federal Government to address the issues concerning the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), which the union rejected and asked to be replaced with the University Transparency, Accountability Solution (UTAS). He also said renegotiation and resuscitation of universities had not been addressed.

Speaking on the ₦52.5bn fund, Osodeke told Sunday PUNCH in an interview, “There is an agreement and we want them to implement the agreement. The issue is not about money. There is the issue of renegotiation, there is the issue of resuscitation of the universities, and there is the issue of UTAS. So, you don’t just come and throw a little money and think the challenge has been resolved.

“This is what our political class is doing. They believe that once they throw a little money, everybody will run back. That is the problem. So, it is not about the token they have given. There are more fundamental issues.”

Click to watch our video of the week