Bimbola Oyesola

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused Federal Government of insincerity in the ongoing negotiation to resolve the lingering strike in the nation’s universities.

This is even as it reiterated that the industrial action would continue untill ASUU get a concrete deliverables that can be accepted by all its members across the federation.

The union also said it would back up the students planned protest to force the federal government to meet up with the lecturers demands towards resolving the present imbroglio.

ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi,  in a telephone interview with the Daily Sun yesterday said that all what ASUU have been able to take away from all the previous meetings with the government were promises without any action to implement.

“All we have been hearing is promises and our members are tired. If you’ve withheld somebody salary for eight months, you only need to pay for the person to see the seriousness in you.

“We see moves to the setting up of the committee, but until inauguration, it cannot be considered as a set up,” he said.

Ogunyemi lamented the dilapidated structure of the universities, which he maintained was the main point of the reason for the strike.

He said, “We are not empowered, we have no molecular laboratory and we are training medical doctors. Research centres are set up outside the universities under the pretence that our universities are not capable. But they’ve forgotten that over the years, the universities have been incapacitated. There are lots of pretension going on. Our members have to contribute money to get ordinary hand sanitizers.

“Other countries of the world used their universities as incubating centres, but here we have no infrastructures. Only University of Ibadan is closer to it, but yet to achieve its e-learning centre.”