ASUU alleges FG jettisons Briggs Committee report, rolls over strike

Abiodun OBA

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has alleged that the federal government jettisoned the report of Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee which was set up to renegotiate the 2009 Agreement with the union, hence the continuation of strike.

Members of the National Executive Council, NEC, of the union gave the impression at its meeting which ended in the early hours of Monday in Abuja.

Checks showed that the national leadership of the union only briefed the meeting on their interactions and submissions made to the Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee set up the Federal Government to renegotiate the 2009 Agreement with the union.

A source said the leadership also told the meeting about the intervention of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in the matter and the subsequent nationwide solidarity rallies held by the Congress and its affiliates last week.

“Since there is no sign of any serious commitment on the part of the government, there was no need for the NEC to consider suspending the strike. Can anybody say this is what the government is offering? They were the ones who set up the Briggs Committee and it made recommendations and the government jettisoned the report.

“The government is not sincere. Let us assume that we are asking too much, which is not even the situation, is it not that the government will come out with its offers and we will deliberate whether to accept or not. We have been saying it that they want to kill the university system just as they did public primary and secondary schools.

“How many Nigerians are now proud to send their children to public primary and secondary schools that we all attended in those days? The national leadership of the union will soon come out with our decisions,” the source said.

Recall that the union has been on strike since February 14 this year and non-teaching staff unions later embarked on their own strike.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, solidarity rallies were held across the states and in Abuja to press the government to accede to the requests of the union and for immediate reopening of the universities.

Meanwhile, ASUU has announced a role-over strike action with effect from 12.01am on Monday, 1st August 2022 to enable the FG satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues raised.

National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, in a statement on Monday, said the decision was sequel to an emergency meeting of the National Executive Council of the union held at the Comrade Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, Abuja, on Sunday.

The statement reads in part, “Following extensive deliberations and taking cognisance of Government’s past failures to abide by its own timelines in addressing issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA), NEC resolved that the strike be rolled over for four weeks to give Government more time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.

“The role-over strike action is with effect from 12.01am on Monday, 1st August 2022”.