The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced a meeting with the Federal Government on July 25, 2024, to address their unresolved demands.
This development comes as non-academic staff of universities have declared a one-day protest on Tuesday over their withheld four-month salaries, serving as a prelude to a nationwide protest scheduled for July 18.
ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, disclosed the upcoming meeting in a phone interview on Sunday. He stated that July 25 marks the implementation date in the timeline agreed upon with the Federal Government.
ASUU chapters across various campuses have been protesting for weeks, with academics and students threatening further industrial action if the government fails to meet their demands.
In an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, ASUU demanded the full implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Federal Government in 2009.
Osodeke emphasized that the protests prompted the Federal Government to schedule a meeting and set a timeline for addressing their promises.
“We have met with the Minister of Education and reached a timeline. They made promises to us, and we want to watch if they will follow through. We are meeting again on July 25 to see if they have done what they promised,” Osodeke said.
The letter, dated June 20, 2024, outlined ten key issues and emerging concerns, including the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs Committee’s 2021 draft Agreement.
Key demands include the release of withheld three-and-a-half-month salaries from the 2022 strike, unpaid salaries for staff on sabbatical leave and part-time appointments, and funding for the revitalization of public universities.
Other issues include the Earned Academic Allowances, the proliferation of universities, the implementation of visitation panel reports, the illegal dissolution of Governing Councils, and the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solutions in place of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Meanwhile, the non-academic staff unions, under the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), have announced a nationwide protest starting July 18 over their withheld salaries. A one-day protest at individual branches is planned for Tuesday.
In a circular jointly signed by NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi and SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim, the unions criticized the government’s failure to address their grievances despite multiple meetings. The circular directed all branches to hold a general meeting on July 8 to mobilize members.
The unions expressed disappointment with the government’s lack of commitment, stating, “After meeting with top officials, including the Minister of Education, there has been no convincing commitment to pay our withheld salaries or resolve other issues.”
The Nigerian government had withheld salaries for both academic and non-academic staff following an eight-month strike in 2022. In October, President Tinubu ordered the payment of four months’ withheld salaries for academic staff only, leading to discontent among non-teaching staff.
Despite protests, only academic staff received the payments in February, exacerbating tensions between non-academic staff unions and the government.
