The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given conditions for universities across the country to be reopened after several months of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi said universities in the country will not reopen until the Federal Government honours the agreement it struck with the union.
Ogunyemi who stated this while speaking at a town hall meeting at the African Hall, the University of Ilorin, insisted that the agreement must be honoured, before the federal government makes any announcement on reopening of universities.
He made it clear that ASUU would unfold its next agenda, if the government refuses to negotiate the 2009 agreement signed by both parties.
“I think it is better we wait. When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. I can’t open our strategy here; whatever you do is about strategy; let the government refuse to negotiate, we will unfold our strategy then,” Ogunyemi said.
According to him, ASUU went on strike in March, because of the government’s insensitivity to university education in the country.
Ogunyemi said some of the union’s demands included funding of university education, which the government had reneged on in the last 10 years.
“There is a deliberate attempt to kill university education in the country. Some universities use stoves in their laboratories instead of burners and buckets to fetch water to perform experiments; it’s as bad as that,” he said