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Tag: Asuu strike

  • ASUU to students: We hope 8-month strike afforded you opportunities to aquire new skills

    ASUU to students: We hope 8-month strike afforded you opportunities to aquire new skills

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU on Tuesday briefed students on updates as regards the ongoing nationwide strike by the union.

    The union in a Twitter post hoped student had aquired skills in the course of the strike while urging them not to relax any longer as exam can commence anytime upon school resumption.

    Statement as issued on Twitter:

    “We are a Nation full of potentials but challenged by misplacement of priorities. Despite our challenges in the Educational system, our science related students faces the worst. From Medical students, Engineering, technology, Chemical Sciences, ICT, Genetics, Biotechnology, Artificial intelligence etc; all are trained with obsolete tool. With all the facts on ground, how do you justify the negligence of the authorities concerns and end up insulting ASUU ?

    “We urge all 300L, 400L and final year students to keep being studious while waiting for the strike to be called off officially.

    “Don’t relax any longer, pick up your books and read because once school resumes, exams can commence at any time.

    “We hope the over 8-month ASUU Strike afford you an opportunity to acquire new skills.

    “ASUU to receive 70billion naira. Students at all levels are suppose to be given Survival Funds we will surely look into that..”

  • Three of my children stranded at home because of ASUU strike – Ngige

    Three of my children stranded at home because of ASUU strike – Ngige

    Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has said that he is also affected by the ongoing strike by members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as three of his biological children who are undergraduates have also been staying at home.

    The minister said this to disprove the popular believe that the government has not been concerned about ending the eight-month ASUU strike because most of the children of the officials are private institutions in Nigeria or abroad.

    Ngige, in an interview with Arise TV, said he had three biological children in public schools and not in private universities.

    Ngige said, “I have three biological children in public schools. They are in public schools; they are not in private universities. Unlike ASUU members who have most of their children in private universities, three of mine are here. So, I am a very big stakeholder in the public tertiary school system.”

    The minister further revealed that two of his children in Nigeria have dual nationality, American and Nigerian. However, he said he chose that they remained with him in Nigeria.

    “So, when ASUU says politicians don’t care because they have taken their children abroad, Chris Ngige cares because my children are not abroad even though they have dual nationality – two of them have American citizenship; they can be in America, but I chose that they remained here with me.

  • ASUU strike: You can’t continue to neglect education sector, Saraki tells FG

    ASUU strike: You can’t continue to neglect education sector, Saraki tells FG

    The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has called on the Federal Government to work towards ending the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu expressed concern that the strike had entered its 62nd day and ought to be brought to an end.

    He stressed the need for the universities to be re-opened without delay, noting that the education of young Nigerians is being affected negatively by the development.

    “In November 2016, the Senate intervened in the strike and met with officials of the Ministries of Education, Labour, Employment and Productivity and ASUU.

    “The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Education, Mr Anthony Anwuka and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity in the National Assembly.

    “In the meeting we agreed that the federal government should work to implement the agreement that it reached with ASUU in 2009, and subsequently, we set up a sub-committee to liaise with both ASUU and the government on the issue.

    “The federal government must work to address the demands of ASUU because the issue goes beyond negotiations. It is affecting the education of Nigerian students, and disenfranchising many of them from participating in the upcoming general election.

    “The youth make up over 51 per cent of registered voters. What does this mean for our electoral process, when young students who are registered to vote in their academic institutions cannot do so because their schools are shut down,” he said.

    Saraki assured that on its part, the senate would continue to work to ensure that Nigeria’s education sector is strengthened.

    He said the senate was ready and willing to collaborate with the federal government and ASUU to end the strike and ensure that it did not become a recurrent issue.

  • ASUU Strike: NANS threatens to boycott general elections

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has threatened to boycott the 2019 general elections should the Federal Government fail to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    The chairman of the Abuja chapter of NANS, Mojeed Omolaja, stated this in Abuja on Wednesday at a one-day conference organised by Online Publishers Association of Nigeria with the theme: “Free Press and objective reporting in the 2019 election year.”

    He also distanced the FCT chapter of NANS from the faction of NANS led by one Akpan Daniels Bamidele who was said to be a student of Nasarawa State University, Keffi.

    The Bamidele-led NANS had visited President Muhammadu Buhari where he endorsed his re-election.

    Omolaja insisted that the NANS officials who paid courtesy call to the President were not fair, adding that the FCT chapter of NANS stood for integrity.

    He said, “We in the FCT here are not part of those who went to eulogise the President; we stand for integrity and anything we get right in FCT will be got right in all the states of the federation because we lead and others follow.

    “The Nigerian students will not vote in the forthcoming election if academic activities do not resume in the universities.

    “In this forthcoming elections, we the FCT chapter of NANS that controls other chairmen in other states have deemed it fit not to participate in the election until when ASUU calls off the strike, because they can’t be playing with our future.

    “Their children are going to school abroad and we are here and they still want their children to come and rule over us with their lackadaisical attitude towards our education.

    “It is quite unfortunate that at this point in time students are at home doing nothing.

    “The major reason we are at home is that ASUU is on strike and we expect the Federal Government to meet their demands because this incessant issue is a catastrophic setback to the students.

    “Imagine somebody spending seven to eight years to finish a four-year programme. It is not done abroad. Is it because our parents don’t have the financial muscle to send us abroad?”

     

  • ASUU strike: Disregard resumption fake notice, LASU tells students

    The Lagos State University (LASU) has urged its students to disregard any notice directing them to resume for lectures amidst the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    Spokesman of the university, Mr Ademola Adekoya told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos that the information was a lie and handwork of mischief makers.

    “Similar information was released for Ladoke Akintola university students some days ago. Kindly disregard the information as it did not emanate from the office of the LASU Registrar,’’ he said.

    NAN reports that a notice had gone viral on the social media recently directing all students of the university to resume for academic activities on January 8.

    The notice had claimed that the management of the university at its meeting of January 3, said all students be notified of the commencement of academic activities including course registration and lectures.

    NAN also reports that ASUU had on November 4, 2018 embarked on what it described as a ‘total, comprehensive and indefinite strike’ to demand action from the Federal Government on challenges affecting universities.

  • ASUU Strike: FG wrong on application of ‘no work, no pay’ rule – Falana

    ASUU Strike: FG wrong on application of ‘no work, no pay’ rule – Falana

    Human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, has said the ”no work, no pay ” policy by the federal government, is not applicable to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who are currently on strike.

    Falana said the federal government acting through the National Universities Commission (NUC) lacks the powers to direct vice-chancellors to seize the salaries and allowances of striking lecturers.

    The union embarked on strike about a month ago over the poor funding of Nigerian universities, an alleged plan by the federal government to increase students’ fees and introduce an education bank, as well as non-implementation of previous agreements.

    The federal government on November 29 directed all vice-chancellors of federal universities to ensure that members of ASUU who are currently on strike are not paid their salaries.

    The directive was contained in a letter issued by the NUC.

    In the circular, government threatened that “the payment of salaries and allowances to staff on strike from whatever source of funds shall be viewed as a violation of extant rules and directive of the Federal Government”

    But Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the government was not properly advised for “resorting to a desperate measure of not paying the workers.”

    The lawyer stated this in a statement he personally signed and released titled: “No work no pay’ policy is not applicable to ASUU” on Sunday.

    According to Falana, the federal government referred to “extant rules” to justify the ‘no work, no pay’ policy; a directive anchored on section 43 (1) of the Trade Disputes Act which provides that “any worker who takes part in a strike shall not be entitled to any wages or other remuneration for the period of the strike.”

    ”Otherwise, it would have realised that even under the defunct military junta the application of ‘no work no pay’ rule, threat to eject lecturers living in official quarters, promulgation of a decree which made strike in schools a treasonable offence and the proscription of ASUU did not collapse any of the strikes called by ASUU,” he said.

    He said the latest strike has complied with the provisions of section 31 (6) of the Trade Disputes (Amendment) Act, 2005.

    He said the law does not punish acts which are lawful in any democratic society.

    He said section 43(1) of the Trade Disputes Act cannot be invoked to justify the seizure of the salaries and allowances of members of the ASUU who have decided to participate in an industrial action that is legal in every material particular.

    ”For the avoidance of doubt, section 31 (7) of the Trade Disputes Amendment Act provides that anyone who takes part in an illegal strike commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to a fine of N10,000 or six months imprisonment or to both fine and imprisonment,” Falana said further in his explanation.

    He also cited the University of Ilorin case where the appointments of 49 lecturers were terminated on the grounds that they had taken part in the ASUU strike of 2001.

    Falana said: ”in setting aside the termination of the appointments, the federal high court held that the appellants were entitled to their salaries and allowances.

    ”Convinced that section 43 (1) of the Trade Disputes Act is self-executory, the Court of Appeal held that the order for the reinstatement of the respondents and for payment of their salaries and allowances when they were on strike was not only illegal but inequitable,” he said.

    But Falana said the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeal and confirmed the order of the federal high court for the reinstatement of the appellants and payment of their salaries and allowances.

    He said the implication of the judgment is that a university lecturer “whose employment enjoys statutory favour cannot be disciplined or sanctioned without being afforded the right of fair hearing by the Governing Council.”

    ”With respect to the current ASUU strike, no university governing council has accused any lecturer of misconduct to warrant the seizure of salaries and allowances,” he said.

    He urged the government to commit itself to the faithful implementation of the 2017 FG/ASUU Agreement to enable ASUU call off the strike without any further delay.

  • 2019: NANS threatens to vote out Buhari over ASUU strike

    2019: NANS threatens to vote out Buhari over ASUU strike

    The National Association of Nigerian Students has threatened to vote against President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 if he refuses to meet up with the demands of the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union.

    NANS Spokesman Azeez Adeyemi, spoke to journalists in Abeokuta yesterday after a peaceful protest over the alleged refusal by Federal Government to meet ASUU demands.

    He said: “Mr. President, NANS is giving you this for free that, come 2019, we are going to show you the road through our votes to Daura if after today’s (yesterday’s) nationwide protest , you still not respect the voice of over 50 million Nigerian students.

    “We hereby call on the federal government to implement the demands of ASUU and COEASU, because, we have resolved not to go back on this struggle”.

    Adeyemi also expressed concern over the state of tertiary institutions across the country, accusing the Buhari-led government of budgeting low funds for the education sector.

    “Our universities, polytechnics, colleges of education laboratories are no more updated, no research apparatus, our lecture rooms are dilapidated. Education that our mates got for free, food that you got from our cafeteria for free during the study is what you want to sell for us, we will resist it. Quality education and not just education is our property, we won’t buy it, and you cannot sell it to us”, he said.

    Similarly, in Minna, Niger State, students in a peaceful protest tagged: “Save Education Rally” decried incessant strikes in the education sector and called on the federal government to shift ground on the matter.

    They carried placards with inscriptions such as “FG should meet up their agreement with COEASU”, “Nigerian students are tired of unstable education”, “Save education save the future”, “stop mortgaging our future”, “Education is the future we have”, “No nation can survive without good education”.

    NANS Zone A Coordinator, Umar Faruk Lawal, said there was endemic decay in the sector which required urgent intervention, adding that although the agreement which led to the ongoing faceoff was reached before the current administration assumed power, government is a continuum.

    He urged the federal government to refrain from treating the issue with levity.

    “We are not happy with the federal government, all our institutions are shut down, we are not happy with the way things are going in the education system. Nigeria students should be called back to the classrooms.

    “We are not happy that all our institutions are shut down by ASUU, COEASU and NASU. The Federal Government should look into the sector and do something about it. The students are not happy sitting down at home”, he said.

  • We will shut down Nigeria in 21 days if ASUU strike persists – NANS

    The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS on Tuesday issued the federal government a 21-day ultimatum to resolve the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU strike to enable the students to return to school.

    The association warned that students would shut down the country if the government fails to resolve the issues and end the strike within the stipulated time.

    A statement issued by the National President of NANS, Chinonso Obasi on Tuesday called on government and ASUU to have “constructive engagement” to resolve the lingering issues that led to the declaration of the strike.

    Obasi said the incessant and prolonged strike was one of the factors responsible for the falling standard of education in Nigeria.

    “Incessant strikes and stoppage of academic activities as a result of lack of agreements or lack of adherence and implementation of duly executed memorandum of agreements between the Federal Government and ASUU do not reflect and demonstrate a commitment to the sustainable development of the nation’s education sector and human capital,” he said.

    Obasi said NANS had called on the Nigerian Senate to convene an emergency meeting to deliberate on the strike and other issues of critical national importance.

    “NANS will await the outcome of meeting (between government and ASUU) to determine the next line of action,” he said.

    The association called on the parties to demonstrate sensitivity and patriotism to resolve the issues “to save education in the nation and avert unfortunate developments associated with the idleness of young people.”