Academic activities may be paralyzed on university campuses nationwide as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has declared indefinite strike action to compel the Federal Government to implement the agreement reached with the union in October 2009.
Indications to this emerged at the University of Ibadan when the academic staff of the university received a text message which reads “Good morning, this is to officially inform you that ASUU has declared a total, comprehensive and indefinite STRIKE from Monday, July 1, 2013. Await further briefing.
ASUU UI.”
Immediately the text was received, academic staff who had been expectant, praised the decision of the National Executive Council (NEC) on the decision to proceed on strike to improve the condition of the nation’s universities and improve quality of service delivery.
The NEC of ASUU, which concluded its meeting at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, was said to have considered the state of implementation at the universities and concluded that the Federal Government had not been faithful in implementing the agreements substantially.
Although, ASUU is to officially address a world press conference today, sources at the NEC said the decision to proceed on strike included failure of the Federal Government to meet the funding requirements for revitalisation of Nigerian universities; progressive increase of annual budgetary allocation to education to 26 per cent between 2009 and 2020, earned allowances, and setting up of research and development units by companies operating in Nigeria and teaching and research equipment provision to laboratories and classrooms.
According to the source, ASUU took the decision after “observing all possible means of making government to implement the agreement yielded no results.”
Meanwhile, immediately the text message circulated, some lecturers at the Premier University who were slated for lectures did not go while students waited in vain.
The University of Ibadan undergraduate resumed the second semester last week leaving the students to groan with the latest development.
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