ASUU Strike Update: FUTA students reportedly block Akure-Ilesha express road

May 16, 2022

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Students of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, on Monday shut down the Akure-Ilesha Highway, Starnews Nigeria has learnt.

Starnews Nigeria reports that the students blocked the road in anger to protest the strike action embarked upon by all the university unions in Nigeria.

ASUU started its strike on February 14, 2022 and JAC commenced its own on April 14, 2022.

The unions embarked on industrial actions while demanding improved welfare packages, better working conditions and implementation of various labour agreements signed with the Federal Government between 2009 and 2020.

Meanwhile, Starnews Nigeria had reported on Monday morning that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASSU) and the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) said the Federal Government did not reach a strong agreement with them that can lead to calling off the industrial actions.

The national leaders of ASUU and JAC of SSANU and NASU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke and Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, respectively told our correspondent that the Federal Government and all stakeholders in the education sector and religious leaders had a meeting with the four unions but no strong agreements were reached.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, was quoted in a report at the weekend as saying, “We had a cordial and fruitful discussion; we looked at the issues dispassionately and reached some agreements, to the satisfaction of everybody in attendance.”

But Osodeke said Ngige’s claim after the meeting that the unions would call off the ongoing strike this week was a political statement.He said, “We are not aware that we are calling off the strike. We met but there was nothing concrete between us and the government. Like we said before, we do not want promises, we want actions, if they show action and implement all the issues, we will go to our members, but knowing their antecedents, we know they will not do anything.