ASUU strike to end as Senates branded their demands 'Unnecessary'

The lingering (ASSU) strtike may soon comes to an end An! according to reports, the senate meets on Wednesday and they have mandated its president David mark to engage the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government with a view to put an end to the four-month old strike embarked upon by the Union.

The Senate’s motion sponsored by 107 senators and presented by Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, recalled that ASUU had been on strike since July 1 in protest of federal government’s alleged failure to implement the 2009 agreement signed with lecturers for proper funding of the nation’s universities.

According to him, the Senate noted with concern that the strike had paralysed academic activities in the universities and consequently rendered the institutions redundant, stressing that several negotiations between the striking lecturers and the federal government along with the intervention of some prominent Nigerians have failed to produce the desired results.

He also reveald that the FG had so far release a whooping sum of N100 billion for infrastructural development in the universities and also the sum of N30 billion as accumulated allowances for the lecturers but yet the Union refuses to be considerate.

The senators, who urged the striking lecturers to return to the classroom to prevent what they described as further devaluation of the country’s educational fortunes, also mandated the committee on education to liase with the Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC) and all other relevant stakeholders to proffer a lasting solution to the crisis.

during the presentation of the union Demands as contained in the 2009 agreement with the federal government by the Chairman, Senator Uche Chukwumerije who is the Senate Committee on Education, Revealed that some of ASUU's demands are 'unnecessary'.

demands such as,  maternity leave allowance, sick leave allowance, injury allowance, car allowance, postgraduate (PG) grants for the supervision of PG students, external excess workload allowance, sabbatical leave allowance, teaching practice and industrial training allowance as well as funding of the state and federal universities were all sumed up which amounts to the total sum of N1,05 trillion which the FG agreed to pay N5 billion in 2009 and another N5 billion in 2010.

However, According to Senator Mark, the nature of the agreement showed that those who represented the federal government at the negotiation table where it was signed, were people who did not know their right from their left. He described the action as unfair to the nation.He thereby orderedthe laedersof the union to give up their pursuit and go back to work for the benefit of the country.