Varsity union to commence strike over closure of schools

The Academic Staff Union of
Universities says it will, next
Monday, embark on a three-
day solidarity strike to
protest the continued closure
of five state universities in
eastern Nigeria.

The
chairman of the Anambra
State University chapter of
ASUU, Jaja Nwanegbo told
the News Agency of Nigeria
that the association’s
decision to embark on a
three-day solidarity strike
was taken at the union’s
National Executive Council
meeting held last month in
Cross-River State.

He said that the strike was
necessary to create public
awareness on the failure of
some state governments to
fully implement the
November 2009 agreement
on improved condition of
service.

According to him, the
solidarity strike is to
register their displeasure
with the Federal
Government’s refusal to
intervene in the crisis. The
union chairman said that the
eastern region has suffered
so much that it should not be
experiencing closure of state
universities at this point in
history. “A region that
experienced three years of
political crisis between 1967
and 1970, and where many of
her youth take to trading
instead of education, should
have universities running
regularly more than others in
the country”, he said.

Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu
and Abia state universities
have remained closed for
about 11 weeks following the
strike embarked upon by
their academic staff over
improved funding for the
institutions.