The Academic Staff of Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced the extension of its three-month prolonged strike by an additional three months.
This announcement was made on Monday morning by the union’s president, Emmanuel Osodeke, at the ASUU headquarters at the University of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital territory.
The decision, according to the Lagos zonal coordinator of ASUU, Adelaja Odukoya, followed an extensive meeting of the leadership of the union on Sunday and early Monday morning.
This is coming as students and other concerned parties, including members of civil society organisations have continued to stage protests nationwide to demand an immediate resolution of the crisis between the workers’ unions and the Nigerian government.
ASUU has consistently condemned what it described as the failure of the government to meet its demands.
According to the union, the basic requirement for the suspension of the industrial action will be the replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for the payment of its members salaries and other entitlements.
The union also added that the implementation of the agreement already concluded with the Munzali Jibril-led renegotiation Committee should be implemented without delay.
But the government has said it would not approve UTAS until all identified loopholes are fixed.
The government also said the renegotiated referenced agreement by ASUU was not signed by any of the two parties, and set up another renegotiation committee under the leadership of Nimi Briggs, a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and a former vice-chancellor.
But ASUU has declined to meet with the Mr Briggs-led committee.
