Again ASUU rejects Presidency offer, says strike continues

By GABRIEL DIKE
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) again rejected the offer by the Presidency put forward by the Viice President Namadi Sambo yesterday at a meeting to resolve the almost three-month-old strike by the lecturers.

Also, ASUU Ibadan zone made up of University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, Olabisi Onananjo University, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Lagos State University and Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode, at a zonal meeting yesterday, resolved to continue with the industrial action.
The acting Zonal Coordinator, Ibadan Zone, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka said the strike entered its 88th day (yesterday), saying the action has crippled public universities.
He said in spite of the spirited efforts of the union to revamp the rot in the system, the government remained adamant and intransigent in honouring the agreement it entered into with ASUU in 2009.
“ASUU has demonstrated great commitment and patriotism since 2006 when the negotiation started and culminated in the 2009 agreement. It has allowed government to use its agencies to verify the claims of decrepit infrastructure in the university system. This resulted in the production of the Needs Assessment document of 2012,” Ogbinaka stated.
According to him, the meeting of Tuesday, September 19 with the vice president was an indication that the Federal Government was merely paying lip service to education in the country and deceiving the public on its commitment to its transformation agenda.
Ogbinaka, who is the branch chairman of ASUU UNILAG, assured Nigerians that it would not back-out in the struggle for the emancipation of the people by ensuring that government does what is right in the education sector.
“Our appeal to all patriotic Nigerians is for them to support ASUU in this struggle to save our public education in Nigeria and secure the future of this great country,” he said.
During the Ibadan zone meeting which took place at UNILAG, ASUU members resolved to continue with the almost three-month-old industrial action until government meets the demands of the union.
Some of the branch chairmen at the meeting told Daily Sun that their various congresses, which held this week rejected offer put forward by the vice president, insisting on full implementation of the agreement.
Acting ASUU Chairman of OOU, Dr. Tunde Odulanmi, ASUU UI branch Secretary, Dr. Deji Omole, told Daily Sun that their congresses rejected the outcome of the union’s meeting with Sambo and voted to continue with the strike.