ASUU’s depleting camp
These are not very good times for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as the Lagos State University (LASU) led some other universities out of the ASUU strike that has now lasted more than six months.
Which other universities left?
The Kwara State University, Kaduna State University, and Osun State University have also pulled out of the industrial action. They joined the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Ekiti State University, and others that have directed their students to resume academic activities.
Does the federal government have something to do with this?
That’s not clear, yet. But while ASUU’s camp is being depleted, the federal government says it has met about 80% of the union’s demands. The federal ministry of education’s Director of press and public relations, Ben Goong, disclosed this as he described the decision of ASUU to extend the six-month-old strike as unreasonable. “If you bring some demands and almost 80% have been attended to, there is no need to drag the strike anymore”, Goong said.
What makes up the remaining 20%?
The remuneration of lecturers is a major issue both sides have been unable to agree on. On the very thorny issue of payment platform, Goong said the FG is looking at a middle ground it can hopefully reach an agreement with ASUU on. “As regards the next steps, the government has already inaugurated a committee to harmonize the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), and the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS)”, he said.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, recently met with Pro-Chancellors, Chairmen of Councils, and Vice Chancellors of universities. Reports say that part of the outcome of the meeting is the setting up of a tactical committee to review the FG’s ‘no work, no pay’ stance, which had outraged members of ASUU and resulted in the union’s extension of the strike.
