Academic Frontier Initiative (AFI), a non-partisan organisation, has called on the Federal Government to urgently meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in order to re-open federal universities across the country.
ASUU embarked on industrial action eight months ago following the non-implementation of the 2009 Agreement, 2019 Memorandum of Action, Arrears of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), revitalisation funds, among other issues.
In a press statement, signed by the AFI National President and Secretary, Dr. Chinedu Onyeizugbe and Dr. Tochukwu Oguegbe, respectively, the group urged the federal government to delay no further in attending to the agitations of ASUU, noting that recent youth #EndSARS protests that swept across the country was fuelled by continued closure of universities.
According to them, people are looking at these protests as a mere campaign against police brutality but the truth is that it is tilting towards revolution. Nigerians are no longer happy the way leaders are handling issues in this country.
“Look at how the Federal Government is crippling the public university education. How long will members of ASUU and even non-academic staff continue to embark on strike as a last resort?
“Isn’t time for the government to be responsible and committed for once by honouring the agreements between it and ASUU? Enough is enough, let the government address this issue once and for all,” the group said.