The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the University of Lagos has hinted at a possible strike if the government fails to address its demands following nationwide protests. For weeks, ASUU chapters across the country have been staging protests and writing open letters to the Federal Government, urging it to honor agreements made with the union.
On Thursday, members of ASUU-UNILAG and supportive students protested against the government’s inaction on nine unresolved demands. The students displayed placards with messages such as “Education is life; proper funding of university education is non-negotiable,” “Lecturers too want an earthly reward for teaching all professionals,” and “Stop establishing universities you cannot fund.”
The protest march began at Julius Berger Hall on campus, proceeded to the university gate, and concluded at the ASUU-UNILAG secretariat.
ASUU-UNILAG Chairman, Prof. Kayode Adebayo, emphasized that the protests aimed to raise public awareness about the government’s insensitivity and silence regarding the union’s demands. “We are sensitizing the public to prevail on the government so that we don’t go on strike. If nothing significant comes out after all these protests, we will decide to go on strike at our next NEC meeting,” Adebayo stated. He added, “They should not force our union to take that route. We love our classrooms. We love our students. It is the Nigerian government that is striking against you, not ASUU.”
Dr. Dele Ashiru, a former chairman of ASUU-UNILAG, highlighted that Nigerian lecturers are among the least paid and alleged plans to hand over public universities to foreign investors. “We are gathered here to call on the Federal Government to rethink its insensitivity, lacklustre, and bankrupt policies in Nigeria’s education system. No nation can rise above its level of education system,” Ashiru said. He noted that the government has failed to revisit the agreement signed with ASUU in 2009, which was supposed to be renewed annually. “We have been receiving the same salary since 2009. Despite several appeals and consultations to get the government to renegotiate, the government turned deaf ears,” he added.
The protesting lecturers and students sang solidarity songs and distributed handbills listing their nine demands. These included concluding the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU agreement, adhering to the Nimi Briggs Committee’s draft agreement of 2021, releasing withheld salaries from the 2022 strike, and addressing unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, part-time, and adjunct appointments due to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Other demands are the release of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions, funding for the revitalization of public universities (partly included in the 2023 Federal Government Budget), earned academic allowances (also partly included in the 2023 budget), addressing the proliferation of universities by federal and state governments, implementing the reports of visitation panels to universities, and replacing IPPIS with the University Transparency and Accountability Solutions.
