By Bisi Olominu
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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on another round of industrial strike on Monday, November 4,2018, after the union’s National Executive Committee meeting held at Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA).

The union’s president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi while declaring the strike accused the federal government of reneging on the various Memorandum of Action signed by the two parties.

ASUU accused the federal government of lacking commitment to implement the 2009 pact between her and the government over the release of N1.3trillion to address the decay in the tertiary institutions.

The union is demanding the reconstitution of the  government’s negotiating team, the release of a forensic audit report on earned Academic Allowance (EAA) and payment of all outstanding EAA and their integration into salaries among others.

Ogunyemi concluded that ”the MoA must be implemented fully before we can even talk of suspension of the strike. If they implement the outstanding issues in the MoA fully and change the leadership of the negotiating team, then we can go back to the negotiation table”.

More than a month of the strike, things once again seem not to be right in our universities. With the stand of ASUU and the federal government, it seems that students in higher institutions in Nigeria will stay at home for a long time. The main question on the lips of parents is when will the ongoing ASUU strike come to an end.

Mrs. Ajayi Monisola, a parent while speaking on the ongoing strike said:” Members of ASUU should pity parents that are struggling to send their wards to school. Yes, things are not good in our tertiary institutions or in the education sector as a whole, but Rome was not built in a day. What ASUU is fighting for is in the overall interest of parents, since those in government continue to protect their own interest. Many of those in government are establishing universities of their own after amassing stealing and destroying public universities. ASUU should not elongate this strike further, members of the group should end the strike without further delay.

“The federal government should accede to the requests of the universities’ lecturers. The United Nations treaty said that 25 percent of the entire budget should be devoted to the education sector, why is it difficult for us to comply in Nigeria?  Any nation that will develop don’t toy with its education sector like we do in Nigeria. The public universities are for the children of the poor, nobody should destroy them. The private universities are for the children of the super rich and they are establishing more everyday for their children.

Mrs Ajayi called on both parties to go to the negotiation table quickly to resolve grey areas so that students and parents would not suffer long.

To Mr. Sunday Adetola, another parent in Akure, the federal government should be blamed for the ongoing strike.

” Federal government is not sincere to develop our universities in the country. Go to the public universities, you will pity the students. If not for ASUU, most of the universities would have gone under. The government is even planning to increase the tuition fees being paid in the public universities to N300,000, if not for the cry of ASUU, it would have been implemented. Is it everything that should be destroyed in this country? Let the federal government do the needful today and the strike will come to an end.”

Mrs Mary Aghata, a resident in Akure called on both the federal government and ASUU to resolve the issue before the end of the year, so that, the students can resume in the new year.

“We thank God that almost all the students and universities have completed their examinations, if not, the academic calendar would have been disrupted again. It is only in this country that the government of the day will wait for strike to be declared before taking action. If the requests of ASUU had been attended to, this present strike would not have happened. Let the two parties resolve the issue quickly in the interest of the students, parents and the nation at large.

” If we are saying that education standard is falling, we should look inward that the incessant strike is not good for us. Therefore ASUU should have a rethink and call off the present strike .”

A student, Master Tony Onifade urged the warring parties to please end the strike so as not to elongate the session and disrupt the academic calendar.

“It is only in this country that a programme of four years will now run for five years or  six years. Let the federal government and ASUU resume their talks and let the issue be resolved amicably”.

Meanwhile ,the Federal government has pleaded with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU to make a sacrifice and suspend its ongoing strike in the interest of the nation.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mrs Ibukun Odusote who has been at the centre of the efforts to resolve the strike appealed to members of ASUU to make some sacrifices as parents to save the future of Nigerian children.

Odusote made the appeal while addressing the delegates of the African Students Union Parliament (ASUP) led by its Speaker, Kewul Abel in Abuja

The Permanent Secretary said,” I am appealing to ASUU members, who are also parents that there are some sacrifices that some people have to make so that the future of our children can be secured “

” If our children are sitting at home at a critical time like this, with the year coming to an end, and the nation preparing for a national election, the tendency that they will start running into political groups for vices engagement is high.

” Therefore, it is in the national interest that the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by ASUU be amicably resolved through social dialogue for our children to continue their educational pursuit”, the Permanent Secretary said.

The ongoing ASUU strike recently recorded its first casualty as eleven students of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) died in an accident on November 20,2018 while on their way to Damaturu, Yobe State .

Speaking on the unfortunate incident, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) expressed sadness over the death of the students.

The organ speaking through its National Public Relations Officer, Best Okereofor said “NANS mourns the fallen students and in the same vain he attributed the demise to the ongoing ASUU strike”.