Lecturers across the various universities in the country, under the auspices of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), have declared that the ongoing strike embarked upon by the union is not about them.
The university teachers explained that the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the union is for the betterment of the future of Nigerian children.
The union made these revelations on Sunday.
We recall that ASUU had since February this year embarked on an indefinite nationwide strike.
The union, while explaining why it has not called off the strike, insisted that the strike is not about them but about the future of the Nigerian children.
ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Professor Ayo Akinwole, in a statement made available to DAILY POST on Sunday, explained that Nigerians should not see the strike as an ASUU thing but a fight all Nigerians must own to have a future of quality education for their children.
He, however, revealed that signing and implementing a renegotiated 2009 agreement will end the strike.
Akinwole maintained that members of the union have sacrificed so much for their own welfare.
He then lamented that the Federal Government owed their members over 9 years of allowances.
Akinwole said, “Our renegotiation ought to have ended by 2012 but here we are in 2022, yet the government is playing games with us.
“We are asking for a renegotiation of existing agreements that will position our members as human beings working in a decent place.
“We are asking for the revitalization of public universities through appropriate funding. We are saying we have a better homegrown alternative to the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS). We are saying check the proliferation of universities that you cannot fund and we are saying Nigerians deserve to be ranked among the top 100 in the world if our leaders invest in education.
“We should be developing our own solutions not depending on others. Sadly we have an uncoordinated Presidency and cabinet working at Cross purposes. This strike is not about ASUU, It is about the future of the Nigerian children.”
