Nigeria ASUU Strike enters 100 days, no end in sight

The Nigerian Universities ASUU strike entered 100 days with no end in sight. The uncompromising talk between members of ASUU and the Federal government continues. No new updates on the ASUU strike. The Latest government strategy on ASUU Strike: Can it work? remains to be seen.

The nationwide strike which commenced on July 1, for non-implementation of an agreement ASUU signed with the Federal Government in 2009, as well as the non-payment of their earned allowances has achieved its first 100 days.

Since the strike, nothing significant has been achieved. ASUU insists that the 100-day-old strike has no political motivation. In a statement by its National Strike Coordinating Committee, obtained on Monday, the union dismissed the October 1 broadcast of the President in which he referred to the strike as politically motivated.

The statement read, “The primary goal of our union is to work for the repositioning of the Nigerian university system for global competition in terms of comparable facilities and staff quality. This goal we have pursued with diligence as a trade union.

“The Umaru Yar’Adua/Goodluck Jonathan government did not accuse ASUU of playing politics all through the three years (2006-2009) negotiations that produced the 2009 agreement. As Vice-President, Jonathan made significant input into the negotiation process. In 2012, when the MoU was signed despite doubts about government’s sincerity, President Jonathan did not impute political motives. Even the landmark report of the Committee on the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Public Universities was not interpreted as political.

“Why is it now when ASUU insists that the Federal Government should deliver on what it undertook to do under the 2009 agreement, the 2012 MoU and the 2012 Needs Assessment Report that the union is being accused of embarking on a political strike?

“ASUU members, and, indeed, progressive Nigerians, know too well that the accusation of politicization of strike is a cheap blackmail. If anything, it is the Federal Government that is trying to whip up political sentiments over matters that are straightforward and clear to all and sundry.”

Have you been affected by the strike? Please leave a comment below.