Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has suspended its 9-month-old strike after exhaustive deliberations during its meeting with the federal government in Abuja.
The Union suspended the strike following its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, held at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat Complex on Tuesday, 22nd December,
ASUU embarked on an indefinite strike on 23rd March, 2020 over several issues including the non-implementation of agreements and resolutions the government reached with the union in 2009 and the disagreement it had with the government over refusals to bring its members under the federal government Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Following the disagreement, the Union therefore, proceeded to develop what it described as ”a more transparent pay system” named the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as an alternative to the IPPIS. However, the reluctance of government to accept the platform and attend to some of their other demands kept university students out of school for nine months.
The president of the union, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi who announced the suspension of the strike in Abuja, said the agreements which was reached in good faith with the government and the Union on Tuesday imposed some obligations on both sides.
“On our part we have undertaken to go
back to the classrooms, laboratories etc, to do our best for our students and our
country. We are going back to rekindle the motivation and aspirations in our
members to strive to encourage our students to excel, all in the expectations that Governments both Federal and State will sincerely fulfil their own part of the
bargain.
“We are returning to classes with the firm hope that parents will take prime
interests in their children’s conditions of living and learning, better funding, better
laboratories, and free development for their children, in order to get an all-round
education that will enable them compete with the rest of the world. We appeal to
parents to work with us for the revitalisation of public Universities.”
Source: LEADERSHIP Newspapers
