Promises cannot replace implementation of agreement – ASUU

The Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Monday said it is tired of what it called the insincerity of the federal government in implementing agreements reached with the union.

The chairman and secretary of the branch, Biodun Olaniran and Toyin Abegunrin, respectively, stated this in a statement after the congress of the union.

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The national body of the union had urged its chapters nationwide to declare a lecture-free day to sensitise Nigerians on the failure of government to implement the contents of the Memorandum of Action (MoA) entered with the union in 2020 which led to the suspension of the then nine-month-long industrial action.

President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to fulfil agreements reached with the union.

Biodun Olaniran and Toyin Abegunrin stated that the promise could not replace the implementation of the agreement.

They said their members had resolved to embark on an indefinite strike since the government was not ready to do the needful.

While asking Nigerians to prevail on government to avert the impending strike, the union said it has allowed many stakeholders to talk to the government saying “government is portraying the union as a dog who can only bark not bite,” they said.

Also, the University of Benin branch of the union appealed to the federal government to honour its agreement with the union and prevent the nation’s educational sector from sliding further into an undesirable level of decay and dysfunction.

Speaking at the end of its meeting, the branch chairman, Ray Chikogu and Secretary, Success Abusomwan, lamented that the federal government was paying lip service to funding education and fulfilling its obligations to the nation’s university system and lecturers.

“For the records, the renegotiation of the FGN-ASUU 2009 agreement that took about four years and was eventually concluded with a draft document in May 2021, the federal government has refused to sign the said document for implementation,” they said.