Footage has surfaced showing primary school pupils in Osun staging a solidarity protest for the reopening of universities.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike for the last six months, bringing educational activities across many government-owned tertiary institutions to a standstill over unmet demands.
Polytechnic staff and college of education lecturers also lamented over their own unmet demands.
As the strike dragged on, several unions began to resort to solidarity protests, the last of which is the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).
On Monday, a video surfaced showing young kids taking to the streets to air their dissatisfaction with the federal government’s handling of the ASUU strike.
The school involved was identified as Sunshine Nursery and Primary School, Ile-Ife in Osun state.
Students of the primary school could be seen protesting in front of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) campus gate in support of ASUU.
– @thegidifeednews: Primary school pupils in Osun state stage protest demanding end to lingering ASUU strike
ASUU have been on strike since February 14, 2022.
The lecturers are demanding better funding for universities among other things. @Gidi_Traffic pic.twitter.com/ISvsAjRplg
— GIDI (@Gidi_Traffic) July 25, 2022
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ASUU had accused FG of reneging on the agreements it reached to suspend its last strike in 2020.
The union argued that the strike had 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 union rejected FG’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), claiming it is “inconsistent”.
The government referred UTAS to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to conduct a user acceptance test (UAT).
The proposed alternative payroll software also underwent vulnerability assessment and penetration test (VAPT) ahead of possible deployment.
But in March, Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of NITDA, declared that UTAS failed the three integrity tests.
ASUU had, in response, tackled the NITDA and accused it of misleading the public by making false claims.
Among other grievances of ASUU are unmet demands for the revitalisation of public universities.
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