How many Federal Universities will join the strike this week ? - UNILAG has taken the lead

The Chairman, ASUU, UNILAG chapter, Dr. Karo Ogbinanka, who had earlier briefed the press about the readiness of his chapter to start the strike after a congress on Monday, explained that the strike

He explained that after the MoU was signed, a NEEDS Assessment Committee on the State of Public Universities was set up to look at the state of infrastructure of the institutions.

“The report has been submitted and all of us know that our universities fall short in physical development, but our concern is government has not done enough to revamp these institutions and the modalities for the injection of funds into these universities have not been followed. That is why there has been increase in the rate of agitation for improved municipal facilities in our universities which has unfortunately been leading to the deaths of innocent students,” Ogbinaka said.


But why is the union embarking on strike when it has not given the government the required ultimatum, Ogbinaka explained that the union had done a warning strike before now.

“Anyway, we don’t even need to give them ultimatum because it is clearly stated in the MoU that we signed with them that we (ASUU) will go on strike without warning should they fail to honour the agreement. They have reneged on the agreement and so there is nothing that can stop us from embarking on this comprehensive and total strike,” he said.

On when UNILAG would join the strike, Ogbinaka said that immediately after the press briefing, a congress would be called and the university management would be informed. “It’s a national strike and UNILAG has joined the action,” he said.

Also the National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr. Ademola Aremu who is also the former Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of ASUU said the action, being a national one, would be fully supported by lecturers at the premier university. “We are not fighting management of the university, it is the Federal Government that should be blamed for pushing us to the wall to make this painful decision,” Aremu said.

Most of the students our correspondent spoke to on this new development expressed sadness at the action. They called on the Federal Government to honour the agreement by giving their teachers their due. “I’m in the final year, if this crisis is not urgently resolved, it will dislocate my career and that of the other students,” Wale, a student of Political Science at UNILAG said.

was called because government had never shown enough commitment to the development of the sector.