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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has come for the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, over his comment that the union's demands were unrealistic considering the current revenue status of the Federal Government.
The background: Recall that ASUU had suspended academic activities in government-owned universities since on Monday, February 14, 2022, over government's failure to honour several agreements between both parties.
The union accused the government for particularly failing to meet the demands that it had presented before the suspension of its 2020 industrial action.
Some of those demands include the release of revitalisation funds for universities, release of earned academic allowances for the staff of universities, deployment of the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of the salaries and allowances of lecturers, stoppage to the proliferation of universities by lawmakers and other government officials, among others.
Meanwhile, all efforts by both the FG and the union to find a way out of the impasse have proved abortive as students and parents continue to bear the brunt of the action.
Keyamo's appeal: Reacting to the development during a recent interview on Channels TV, Keyamo had claimed that the federal government had tried all its best to ensure that lecturers return to classroom.
He, however, appealed to parents and guardians to "beg" ASUU to end the strike, adding that the government can't afford to borrow to meet their demands.
ASUU hit back: Responding to the Minister's claims, the National President of ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, told The Punch that he was disappointed by the claims made by Keyamo.
Osodeke said, "When I listened to him yesterday, I felt very disappointed. We are in a country where someone who has risen in the legal profession can come out to completely misinform the public. It is so sad and I feel so pained.
“We are challenging him to mention one of the things the government has done on all the issues that led to the strike. How much has been released for the revitalisation fund for universities? How much has been released for the payment of the earned academic allowances? Has the visitation panel report been released? This is a demand that does not even have to do with money,” he said.
He added, “Have they signed the agreement that was negotiated between their team and ASUU? On the issue of IPPIS and UTAS, have the results been made available? These are the questions Nigerians have to ask them. The demands that don’t have to do with money, have they met those demands?
“I am so disappointed. This is someone who was on the street fighting for the poor Nigerians until he joined politics. This same man has turned around to fight the Nigerian people. We challenge him to tell the Nigerian people what the government has done concerning the seven demands that were listed. It is so sad, and that is why Nigeria is where it is today.
“These people do not have the interest of Nigerians at heart. Nigeria is battling all manner of things. Insecurity, education is on lockdown. They have not released one kobo, I’m saying this with all due respect. The government has not released one kobo to any university since the strike started, but you are giving N1.14 billion worth of vehicles to government officials in the Niger Republic.
“You know why they don’t believe in Nigerians. If their children were to be in our schools, they would have done something”.
Pulse reports that Keyamo said he's willing to go any length, including kneeling down for ASUU, to ensure that that the ongoing strike is called off.