The Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos, has been occupied by members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). Students are demonstrating in opposition to the Federal Government's reluctance to accede to lecturers' demands and the Academic Staff Union of Universities' continued strike action. Due to students' defiance of the torrential rain, several travelers were left stranded on the road leading to the airport. The Nation noted the presence of RRS personnel, Lagos Airport Police Command personnel, and security personnel from the Lagos State Police Command. To express their anger at the Federal Government's actions, the protesting students carried placards and chanted Aluta songs.
In Nigeria, academic employees at universities are represented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which was established in 1978. ASUU is a branch of the 1965-founded Nigerian Association of University Teachers (NAUT). The University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ife, and University of Lagos were the only five universities that made up NAUT at the time. On May 30, 2021, Professor Victor Emmanuel Osodeke became the organization's president. Many colleges, including Federal and State Universities, are currently represented by ASUU, and any strike that the union chooses to initiate will have an impact on them.
During a three-day meeting of the union held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State, Professor Osodeke, a professor of soil science at the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, was chosen on May 30, 2021. He succeeded Olabisi Onabanjo University's Biodun Ogunyemi, a professor of education in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.
ASUU announced a one-month strike in 2022 that will start on February 14 of that year. The revitalization of public institutions, earned allowances, better funding for state universities, and unpaid promotion arrears are just a few of the requests made by the lecturers. Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, established a commission to revise the 2009 agreement with ASUU on March 7, 2022. Professor Emeritus Nimi Briggs, Pro-Chancellor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University (AEFU), Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, is the chairman of the seven-person panel. ASUU extended the strike by an additional 8 weeks on March 14. After exactly 56 days of the strike, on April 11, 2022, the federal government finally met with ASUU. One of the longest ASUU strikes in history, it was extended by an additional 12 weeks on May 9 and went on for six months without being resolved. ASUU extended the strike by a further four weeks on August 1, 2022. On August 16, 2022, the FG met with ASUU to continue talks. ASUU promised to call off the strike if its demands were granted, however the meeting resulted in no agreement. ASUU later announced that it would start consulting on the best course of action. In response to the government's offer, the local ASUU chapters at ABU, BUK, UDUS, and OAU opted to continue and declare an indefinite strike. State universities have also insisted on this, including TASUED, Adekunle Ajasin University, and Kano State University of Technology pursuing the strike until it has been logically resolved.
#ASUU #ASUUSTRIKE #NANS #LAGOSAIRPORT
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