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Tag: Emmanuel Osedeke

  • ASUU gives condition to call off lingering strike

    ASUU gives condition to call off lingering strike

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given a condition to call off the lingering strike it’s embarked on from February 14th 2022.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke gave the condition on Monday night.

    Prof Osedeke challenged the federal government to accept the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) payment platform for ASUU to call off the ongoing strike.

    Osedeke, who said this while speaking on Channel Television on Monday night, insisted that the strike will continue unless the government accepts UTAS and honour the 2009 agreement.

    “Let the government tell us they have finished testing the UTAS and sign the agreement, then tomorrow we will call off the strike.

    “We challenge the government, when would they sign the agreement? When would they accept UTAS? These are the two questions we should ask the Nigerian government,” the ASUU President said.

    TNG reports ASUU declared the strike to compel the government to act on a variety of issues that had lingered between both parties for years.

    While the Federal Government continues to work on the demands of ASUU, academic activities across all public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of Education have been paralysed.

    ALSO READ || BREAKING: NITDA approves UTAS for payment of lecturers as ASUU calls IPPIS evil

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    The union is demanding funding of the revitalisation fund, earned allowances, implementation of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) scheme, as well as promotion arrears.

    Other demands are; the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement, and the resolution of inconsistency in the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), among others.

  • Strike: What ASUU must do – Bush-Alebiosu

    Strike: What ASUU must do – Bush-Alebiosu

    A former two-term member of the House of Representatives, Dayo Bush-Alebiosu, has advised academics to always have true representations in policy-making, to address root cause of incessant strikes by academic unions.

    Bush-Alebiosu, who represented Kosofe Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2015, and aspiring to return to the same seat in 2023, made this remark on Wednesday while speaking with newsmen.

    He spoke after a stakeholders meeting with APC leaders, delegates and members at the party secretariat in Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos State, where he wooed delegates for his ambition.

    The former lawmaker, who didn’t hide his passion for the development of education to address challenges in the nation, decried the lingering disagreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    “You cannot solve a problem without getting to the root of the problem. The first thing to do is to find out and run a diagnosis what the issue is, and have a sit down.

    “I have never seen war resolve any issue. At the end of the day, you will still have to come back to the table.

    “This is where the excellence of policy-making comes to place. It is important for the academics to have a true representation at the level of policy-making, that way, they will be able to push a lot of things to represent them.

    “As a nation, we cannot be serious without talking education. I am passionate about education, it is the key that unlocks every problem whether medical, engineering and others,” Bush-Alebiosu said.

    According to him, no nation can talk about development without talking education.

    ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke, had on Wednesday reiterated that there was no going back on the union’s decision to continue with its ongoing strike following Federal Government’s failure to honour the 2009 agreement.

    Recall that ASUU on Monday extended its roll-over strike which started on Feb. 14 by another 12 weeks.

    On his ambition, the aspirant said he was one of the best legislators the country had ever produced, adding that he knew where the shoe pinched the people.

    He said: “I have come to seek for the support of our delegates at the next week primaries. I want their absolute support.

    “I was born here and I understand the problems, issues and challenges in Kosofe as a whole. I come to let them know that I am the best man for the job.”

    Bush-Alebiosu said that if he had not done well, the mammoth crowd at the gathering would not receive him warmly.

    The Executive Chairman of Ikosi-Isheri LCDA, Samiat Bada, noted that peace had returned to the party in the council.

    Bada promised to deliver votes in the LCDA for all APC candidates in the 2023 elections including Bush-Alebiosu.

    The event was attended by several party leaders and members.

  • Why we will remain on strike – ASUU

    Why we will remain on strike – ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said there is no going back on its decision to continue with its ongoing strike following Federal Government’s failure to honour the 2009 agreement.

    ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke, who made this known in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja, said the union took the ‘difficult decision’ after exhausting all avenues available to amicably settle the matter with the Federal Government.

    “Let me give you an example because this is where we are getting it wrong, when the airline operators said they were going to stop the flights, the Senate and House of Representatives quickly stepped in.

    “This is because they are affected; they quickly rushed in and addressed the problem, why would they not resolve that of the education sector that is affecting the children of the poor and the ordinary people

    “If the government is willing to resolve the issues affecting the Nigerians, then there would be no need to go on strike. The problem is the will of the government to resolve issues,” Osedeke said in the interview with NAN.

    Recall that ASUU on Monday extended its roll-over strike which started on Feb. 14 by another 12 weeks. The striking lecturers’ demands include, funding of the revitalisation of public universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and promotion arrears.

    Others are the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement and the inconsistency in the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

    Osedeke revealed that none of these demands had been met by the Federal Government, saying: “All the issues that made us to go on strike are still there; that is the revitalisation fund, that is putting more money into universities and revitalising the infrastructure in the universities.

    “There is also the issue of our mode of payments in the universities. There is no university in the world where lecturers are paid salaries from the Accountant General’s Office.

    “We have challenged them to provide one, if universities are universal body, why are they doing things differently. We talk of negotiation of the agreement, the proliferation of universities, among others, so there are lots of issues that they have not resolved”.

    The ASUU president also said that the government had also refused to accept UTAS that he said had been tested and passed with a scored 99.3 per cent.

    Osedeke urged the Federal Government to do the needful in order for students to return to school.