The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says the World Bank and its International Monetary Fund (IMF) counterpart are hell-bent on destroying and burying public tertiary education in Nigeria.
It, however, vowed that despite negative determinations of two organisations against tertiary institutions in Nigeria, it would not relent in the struggle to rescue public universities from what it described as their “suffocating clutches”.
President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke stated this at the national secretariat of the union situated on the main campus of the University of Abuja, during ASUU’s Heroes Day 2024-2025 ceremony.
Daily Trust reports that the “Heroes Day” event honours past and current members for their sacrifices to improve public education, particularly at the tertiary level across the country.
Speaking at the event, ASUU president also disclosed that the federal government “was still unjustly” withholding the union’s three and a half months’ salaries, in addition to arrears of wages, promotions, and the Earned Academic Allowances that had remained outstanding.
He also noted that the situation had been further compounded by the enforcement of the IPPIS in public universities, even after the Federal Executive Council had announced plans to remove the system from tertiary education institutions.
According to him, despite multiple Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Memoranda of Action (MoAs), the agreements they reached with the federal government have remained unsigned and unimplemented.
“Comrades, like in the past, this year’s celebration of our heroes also takes place as we continue the struggle to rescue Nigeria’s public universities from the suffocating clutches of the World Bank and the IMF, whose determination to destroy and bury our public university system has not abated.
“It is rather lamentable that we are still struggling to compel the renegotiation of our 2009 agreement with the federal government, twelve years after it should have been concluded, and after four rounds of failed negotiations.
“It is most disheartening and egregious that despite the several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Memoranda of Action (MoAs), the ASUU-FGN 2009 Agreement is yet to be renegotiated and finalized,” the labour leader said.
The union also announced the distribution of PhD grants worth N500,000 each to selected members following rigorous proposal evaluations.
Osodeke, who hailed his members for what he described as “Their resilience in defending Nigeria’s public university system”, said ASUU members are facing more hardships at Kogi State University, Lagos State University, Ebonyi State University and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University.
He claimed that at the state level, ASUU members “Are still being punished for fighting for the interests of members and the university system.”
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