The Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU ) has disclosed that its members will waste no time in embarking on another industrial action should the FG renege on the agreement between both parties by March 2021. Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, the ASUU president, disclosed this while announcing the suspension of the union’s nine-month strike in Abuja.
His words: “What we have done is to give the government the benefit of doubt and that is why we have added the caveat. Should the government renege, our members are not tired of withdrawing their services.”
According to the ASUU president, the agreements reached by both parties are to be met between January and March:
“The time frame is a bit elastic. There are some items that are supposed to be addressed in January. There are some others that will drag till March or thereabouts.
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“This time around, we have agreed to review the status of the implementation by February. That is our mechanism for monitoring. This was not there in some of our previous agreements.”
The ASUU chief further revealed that the bone of contention with the Federal Government on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has been resolved. According to the union president, “We are at the last stage of the integrity test of University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS),” which is the alternative salary payment portal designed by the union.
Ogunyemi added that no member of the Union will suffer any loss of deserved benefits for participating in the strike. Speaking on resumption of academic activities in the universities, Ogunyemi stated that the lecturers were ready to resume work immediately full health measures are put in place by the FG in view of the COVID-19 pandemic:
“As far as we are concerned, we are ready to resume work. Let the government do what is needed to ensure safety. We insist that the COVID-19 protocols should be observed, and the requirements for observing the protocols should be met.”
Nelson O.