The one-month warning strike announced by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the 14th of February expired today. However, the federal government of Nigeria and the union are still yet to reach a consensus. According to ASUU officials, the lack of cooperation of the federal government has forced them to extend the strike by another two months, hoping that the government will comply with the union’s demands.
The decision to extend the strike was taken at the union’s National Executive Council, NEC meeting held in Abuja last night. Among their other demands, members of the union have also expressed their displeasure at the government’s refusal to approve the UTAS (University Transparency Accountability Solution) payment in place of the IPPIS (Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System), which is currently in use. However, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, debunked the union’s claims stating that the IPPIS failed the initial integrity test and that the ball is in ASUU’s court to upgrade it and resend for review.
Many Nigerians, especially students of universities affected by the strike, have since taken to social media to express their anger about the failed educational system in Nigeria. Many pointed out that they have still been unable to regain their time in 2020 and 2021 to ASUU strikes and Covid 19, respectively. Students who got into the university to study four-year courses have been there for five years and are still yet to graduate.
One cannot help but wonder at the mindset of our leaders and the lackadaisical attitude with which they have been treating the issue of academic strikes in the country. Perhaps their lack of interest in resolving the problem is because most of their children are either schooling abroad or in the various private institutions across Nigeria where strikes do not occur every other month.