The Academic Staff Union of the Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has concluded a plan to extend its industrial action for another two months. Daily Trust reports that ASUU has concluded its plan during a meeting of last night at yet to be disclosed location that the academicians are determined that they will hold the government hostage until their demands are met. The statement said,” I can tell you that deliberations are still ongoing as far as our warning strike is concerned, but it is most likely that we extend the strike by 8 weeks,”
However, when the ASUU president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke was contacted on the telephone to confirm the veracity or otherwise of the report, he disclosed that the reports were just a “mere speculation” saying his members are still brainstorming on the next line of action to take.
The ASUU president said, ”We have not addressed any press on this issue. It is just mere speculation. Deliberation is still ongoing as I am talking to you,”
In another dramatic twist at about 6:50 am on Monday, an unverified Twitter handle of ASUU also announced that the union had extended the warning strike by eight weeks.
The tweet read, “BREAKING NEWS: ASUU extends the strike action by 8 weeks. Stay tuned for more details. #ASUU #ASUUstrike.”
Meanwhile, Nigerians are watching hands crossed as the struggle unveils between ASUU and the federal government.
ASUU is demanding that the federal government should respect the following agreement they had in the past which include; non-implementation of the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached with it; salary shortfall caused by the introduction of IPPIS; revitalization of universities across the country, among others.
The federal government has in recent times slammed the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) to have failed its integrity test, which the claimed ASUU kicked against.
