In a public appeal, the Yola zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the general public to exert pressure on the federal and state governments to grant the union’s legal requests in order to avert the restart of the strike that was previously postponed.

During a news conference held on Thursday in Yola, Mr. Reuben Jonathan, Zonal Coordinator, stated that the zone had met and reviewed the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed with the Federal government on December 23, 2020; issues related to the draft renegotiation agreement signed in May 2021; and some issues confronting the university system in general.

According to him, the Federal Government’s effort to send visitation panels to public universities was well received by the zone.

“However, the zone expects the speedy release of the whitepaper of visitation panels to the universities for the benefit of the university system,” he added.

He urged the state governors, who serve as visitors to state universities, to follow in the footsteps of the federal government and establish inspection panels at state-owned universities as soon as possible.

“The Federal Government Team and ASUU concluded the renegotiation meeting in May 2021 but up till now, our Union is in dark as to the position of the renegotiation with the Federal Government.

“This lukewarm attitude and deliberate delay have triggered agitations from our members,” he said.

While he acknowledged that funding in Nigerian public colleges is woefully inadequate, he stated that the issue is particularly concerning in state-owned universities.

He said, “The inefficiency and over-reliance on the federal government’s interventions by state-owned universities, emanating from ASUU struggles, have led the state governors to develop a lukewarm attitude towards funding state universities.”

The Zonal Coordinator also expressed his dissatisfaction with the non-disbursement of the N30 billion naira revitalization money, which was agreed to within the 2020 Memorandum of Understanding with the union.