November 15, 2021

A fresh shut down of Nigerian universities looms as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday issued a three-week ultimatum to the Federal Government to address all issues agreed upon in the December 2020 Agreement.

The ultimatum is part of the resolutions reached at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of ASUU in Abuja.

ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, said this on Monday while addressing reporters in Abuja, warning that ASUU might be forced to embark on yet another nationwide strike if the federal government fails to implement resolutions agreed upon prior to the suspension of the last industrial action.

Osodeke, while giving details said the issues included those of unpaid academic earned allowances and the universities revitalisation fund. He regretted that these issues have not been addressed almost one year after an agreement was reached.

ASUU embarked on a nationwide strike in March 2020 following its disagreement with the government over the funding of the universities and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), among other issues. ASUU proposed the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) to replace IPPIS, arguing that IPPIS is contrary to the Act setting up universities which defined the autonomy of universities.

In the heat of the strike action of 2020, ASUU and the federal government reached a common ground which led to the suspension of the strike that lasted nine months.

The strike was called off after the government offered a cumulative N65 billion to the lecturers to address earned academic allowances and revitalisation of universities.