Ojukwu varsity not part of ASUU strike, says spokesperson

The management of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) in Anambra says it is not participating in the ongoing warning strike embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

According to NAN, the institution disclosed this in a statement signed by Harrizon Madubueze, the school’s spokesperson, in Awka, on Wednesday.

ASUU-COOU is divided between Okey Aniebo and Osita Chiaghalam factions which are in support and against joining the strike as directed by the national body respectively.

The statement urged parents, guardians, and students to ignore the rumour that the institution had shut down academic activities.

Madubueze said that it was committed to ensuring that students graduated when they were supposed to without incurring more expenses than necessary.

“This is to inform the general public that Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University is not on strike,” it read

“Academic activities are going on massively, with the University-wide quiz which began on Tuesday, ending on Saturday.

“Parents should therefore ignore any of their wards who come home to inform them otherwise.”

On his part, Aniebo, chairman of one of the factions, said the university had joined the strike in compliance with the national body directive.

He said members of his group had withdrawn their services but added that some academic staff were working.

He claimed that the lecturers flouting the strike order were those loyal to the school management which had broken the rank of the union in the institution.

“Some of them were afraid of the plight of some of them who were owed four months salary for joining the last strike,” Aniebo added.

“I cannot talk about compliance, but I want to tell you that ASUU-COOU has joined the strike.”

ASUU embarked on strike on February 14 after a two-day deliberation of the union’s national executive council.

ASUU had accused the government of reneging on the agreements it reached to suspend its last strike in 2020.

The union also argued that the strike followed the government’s attitude towards the renegotiation of salaries and allowances as well as the adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) payroll software.

The lecturers’ agitations include funding for the revitalisation of public universities and promotion arrears.

Others are the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement and the inconsistencies in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

The federal government has since been meeting with the union to deliberate on ways to end the industrial action.