Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has berated the Federal Government over plan to commercialise public universities in the country and compel stueents into paying 350,000 as tuition fee.
ASUU leadership also cautioned that should the union break the industrial harmony currently being enjoined, federal government should be blamed because it reneged in its promises since 2009.
The Ibadan Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Professor Ade Adejumo made the claims in Ibadan on Tuesday while leading a cross section of the Zonal officials to the Oyo State NUJ Correspondent Chapel at its Secretariat, Molola Ibadan.
Professor Adejumo noted that since 2009, the requests of ASUU have been only acceded to by the federal government in piecemeal and taking to deceiving ASUU.
ASUU leader recalled that in 2017 ASUU called off the strike because of pleas of the public after which ASUU entered into Memorandum of Action (MOA)with the federal givernment.
ASUU LEADER disclosed that federal government failed to honour the agreement but set up a committee led by Dr Wale Babalakin, which recommended ridiculous amount of 350,000 naira as tuition fee.
“The union was confronted with a situation where government is bent on imposing tuition fees, beginning from N350,000 on students in the public owned tertiary situations.
Responding to the question if the union would embark on strike any moment, Professor Adejumo said after the Zonal offices had met with their members the NEC will meet to deliberate on the next step of Action.
He said the Minister of Education is on agreement with ASUU but the cabal around the government is making the fulfilment of the agreement difficult.
ASUU said that instead of government to release the two trillion naira, federal government purported released two billion naira some weeks ago to blackmail ASUU adding that ASUU will not be intimidated with the government action.
ASUU called on the federal government to know that the union is not particular about increment in salary but about good infrastructure and improved research of the ivory tower.
