ASUU strike to continue if FG doesn’t meet our demands, says UNIZIK chairman

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says the ongoing one-month warning strike will continue if the federal government fails to meet its demands.

ASUU had declared a nationwide strike on February 14 following a two-day deliberation of the union’s national executive council (NEC).

According to NAN, Steve Ufoaroh, chairman of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) chapter of ASUU, said the institution was on total shutdown.

Ufoaroh also disclosed that lectures, workshops, students, production of results, and orientation programmes for freshmen had all been put on hold in compliance with the industrial action.

He said the decision of whether the school hostels should be shut was that of management but advised that students should be told to vacate for security purposes since there was no academic activity.

“Any academic programme that involves our members have been suspended and you know it is a rolling strike.  At the end of the one-month warning strike, if nothing changes, it will continue,” the ASUU chairman added.

Also speaking, Ifunanya Okoye, vice president of NAU’s students’ union, said no academic activity is taking place in the varsity as classrooms and departmental offices are all under lock and key.

She, however, said the hostels are still open as students have yet to vacate them.

Okoye said the matriculation ceremony, earlier fixed for early March, has also been postponed while final year students were stuck as lecturers were not working on their results.

She, however, pointed out that the NAU-SUG was fully in support of ASUU, calling on the federal government to address the perennial challenges bedevilling the nation’s universities.

“We are not comfortable with it, but there is nothing we can do about it,” the SUG leader said.

“ASUU members are not just our lecturers, they are our parents, uncles, aunties and whatever affects them also affects us.

“Our appeal is that federal government should resolve this issue once and for all.

“For a four-year programme, we spend six years. These strikes encourage idleness which is the reason for crimes, drug abuse and security challenges in the country.

“We want the Federal Government to listen to ASUU… NAU SUG is with ASUU and we will not join in any anti-ASUU strike.”

The federal government had said it will meet with the leadership of the union on Tuesday to deliberate on ways to end the industrial action.