ASUU Strike: UNIMED Chapter Rejects Govt-AAUA Deal, Remains on Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Medical Sciences, Ondo (UNIMED), has rejected the agreement reached between the Ondo State Government and the ASUU chapter of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), insisting that its members will remain on strike.

Chairman of ASUU-UNIMED, Abraham Oladebeye, said his chapter was not invited to the meeting where the state government and ASUU-AAUA negotiated the terms for resolving the ongoing industrial dispute.

According to Oladebeye, the agreement cannot bind ASUU-UNIMED because it was reached without the participation of the chapter and does not address resolutions previously reached by its congress.

He said the union also returned a letter from the Ondo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Igbekele Ajibefun, because, according to the union, its contents did not meet the demands contained in the resolutions of ASUU-UNIMED.

Oladebeye explained that while there had initially been a general meeting involving the affected unions, subsequent negotiations were held separately with ASUU-AAUA, without inviting ASUU-UNIMED and other university-based unions in the state.

He said the government subsequently proposed commencing implementation of the agreements from August and paying salary arrears covering January to July in two instalments before January next year.

The ASUU-UNIMED chairman also raised concerns over what he described as special financial intervention provided to AAUA, saying similar support had not been extended to the University of Medical Sciences.

Meanwhile, ASUU-AAUA Chairman, Prof. Bolu Oshodi, said the state government had intervened financially in the dispute and that a congress had been scheduled to direct members to resume academic activities.

The development comes as the Joint Action Committee of Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions (JAC-ODSTI) suspended its indefinite industrial action and directed affected workers to resume duties on September 29.

The suspension covers members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) at AAUA, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), and UNIMED.

The unions had commenced the strike on September 2 over unresolved issues relating to the implementation of agreements between the Federal Government and university-based unions.

JAC-ODSTI said the suspension followed financial intervention by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa but urged the managements of the affected institutions to resolve outstanding non-financial issues to prevent another industrial dispute.

For now, while some unions have suspended their industrial action, ASUU-UNIMED says it will continue its strike until its own demands and congress resolutions are addressed.