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After serious deliberations that dragged into the early hours of yesterday, the National Executive Council, NEC, of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, said it was embarking on a month strike to press the Federal Government to meet its demands.
But the Federal Government in a swift reaction, said ASUU was insincere, considering the reasons given for embarking on the warning strike.
Speaking at a briefing in Lagos, National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the decision became necessary because the Federal Government had ignored them and refused to meet their demands.
The union also said it would sanction its members, including the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and others involved in the conferment of the position of Professor of Cyber-security on the Minister of Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami.
This is just as the union said the minister should resign his position for breaching due process as he could not be a serving minister and still occupy a professorial seat in a university.
He said it was unfortunate that the education sector had been left by the government to rot.
He said: “A lot of shenanigans are being perpetrated by people in government. One is the professorship conferred on Minister Isa Patami. He is not a lecturer at FUTO and if he wants to be, let him resign his position and go and teach. All those involved would be sanctioned by our union, including the vice-chancellor.
Calls for N30bn take-off grant for new varsities
“Proliferation of universities is embarrassing. Every senator now has a bill in which they are demanding that universities be set up in their constituencies without adequate provisions made for the funding.
“We are suggesting that the law mandating the National Universities Commission, NUC, to license new universities to be amended to ensure that at least a new university would have a take-off grant of not less than N30 billion kept somewhere.