President Muhammadu Buhari’s two weeks ultimatum for Minister of Education Malam Adamu Adamu to end the lingering Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, has elapsed.
BizWatch Nigeria recalls that on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, Buhari gave Adamu two weeks to resolve the prolonged ASUU strike, which started on Tuesday, February 16.
The President gave this directive after receiving briefings from relevant government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the ongoing efforts to end the face-off with the university unions.
However, as of Tuesday, August 2, when the two weeks ultimatum elapsed, the Minister was yet to influence the union to end its strike, a development that had left many Nigerians in groaning conditions.
Nigerians groan over ASUU strike
@lohyce_ wrote “The weirdest part of this ASUU strike is that it’s even affecting those of us that have already graduated, alot of people can’t process their transcripts and English proficiency letters, academic referees as well, everybody’s life is just somehow linked to this strike.”
@iamolaprinz wrote: “This ASUU strike is frustrating man, people paid for new hostels at the beginning of the year only for the money to lie in waste. People don even forget education start business. Imagine tertiary education being on hold for months! Which way Nigeria?”
@OpeAdetayo1 wrote: “Nigerian public universities to remain closed for the next four weeks as ASUU approves continuation of strike at their NEC meeting earlier today. By the end of the four weeks, millions of students would have been at home for seven months in a country technically not at war.”
What you should know
Between 1999 and the end of 2021, ASUU has gone on strike for at least, 60 months and seven days. So far this year, it’s more than five months and still counting.
This time, the union is on strike over the federal government’s unwillingness to fulfil its demands, which include -revitalisation funds for universities, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release of earned allowances for university lecturers, and deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) platform for the payment of salaries and allowances of university lecturers.
