ASUU to FG: You are a serial defaulter

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday described the Federal Government as a serial defaulter and bad example for Nigerian youths.

The Union accused President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of eroding the trust people initially reposed in him to reposition the education system in the country.

ASUU said it has begun national mobilisation for action against the government over failed implementation of agreement.

While speaking with newsmen after its Congress, the ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan Chapter, Professor Deji Omole, lamented that despite its efforts at making Nigeria great through education, successive administrations have positioned themselves to make Nigeria retrogressive.

According to Omole, the Union is not happy with the government over its consistent failure to fully implement any of the agreements reached with the Union.

According to him, the main conflicting areas are unfulfilled 2009 agreement, 2012 Memorandum of Understanding, 2013 Memorandum of Understanding, 2017 Memorandum of Action and 2019 memorandum of Action.

Omole maintained that the federal government has been paying lip service to funding public education saying that government has failed to honour the sustainable funding agreement it reached with the Union.

The ASUU boss listed the areas in dispute to include payment of outstanding balance of earned academic allowance up till 2018, unpaid annual salary increment, failure to activate the visitation panels to varsities and failure of government to commence re-negotiation team.

“Government is untrustworthy. They are paying lip service to everything including education. Things are going worse than before. Their policies are ill-conceived hence creating more problems than they can solve.

“Our members are being mobilised. They are to be at alert. This government is wicked. They are impoverishing lecturers. With meagre amount being paid, some departments now beg lecturers to donate paper to run government business. IPPIS is a distraction. They should honour our agreements to avert strike,” Prof. Omole said.