ASUU Strike, Embarrassment To Federal Govt – Civil Societies

Osun Civil Societies Coalition (OCSC) has called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to accede to the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and put an end to the incessant educational crisis rocking the country.


Describing the two month-old strike as an embarrassment to the Federal Government, the OCSC maintained that it is only an irresponsible government that would allow incessant industrial action to cripple its education sector.

A press statement signed by the Chairman of the coalition, Comrade Waheed Lawal on Sunday accused the Federal Government of negligence of ASUU’s plight and under-funding of education.

According to the OCSC, the failure of the Federal Government to implement the 2009 agreement reached with the union leaders showed that the government was not ready to revive the fallen education standard in the country.

The coalition maintained that the ASUU’s demands, which forced the union to embark on strike since July 02 upon non-implementation of an earlier agreement by the Federal Government is legitimate, saying that the union is fighting a just cause.

It stressed that if the Federal Government could afford jumbo pay for political office holders, it has no reason not to accede to ASUU’s demands, particularly on the improvement of infrastructures in the Nigerian universities.

The OCSC decried the position of the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that meeting the ASUU demand would jeopardize the economy of the country, describing the minister’s statement as hypocritical and barbaric.

According to the coalition, in as much as the jumbo pay for political office holders across the country does not cripple Nigeria’s economy; the ASUU demands too must be accommodated to put an end to the industrial action of the union.

The pressure groups stated that it is disheartening that the Federal Government feels comfortable with the Nigerian universities locked and disserted by lecturers, while the students are left to roam about the streets.

Maintaining that the ASUU demands are not selfish, OCSC called for an increase in education budget to accommodate the yearnings and demands of tertiary institutions workers.
“Universities and Polytechnic Education, as at today, is nothing to write home about, courtesy of the unpatriotic attitude of the Federal Government.

“OCSC is strongly in support of the ASUU strike and we call on the Federal Government to accede to the demands of the union. We also call on the government to allocate 26 percent of the budget to education as recommended by UNESCO,” the coalition stressed.