The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Bayero University Kano branch, on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest, urging the Federal Government to implement its renegotiated agreements and release withheld salaries.
Addressing journalists during the protest in Kano, the Vice-Chairman of ASUU-BUK, Comrade Yusuf Madugu, said the demonstration became necessary following what he described as government’s failure to act on the union’s longstanding demands. He recalled that ASUU had renegotiated the 2009 agreement with different government committees chaired at various times by Prof. Munzali Jibrin, Prof. Nimi Briggs, and most recently Malam Yayale Ahmed, with the process concluded in December 2024 but yet to be implemented.
Madugu explained that the unresolved issues include the signing and implementation of the renegotiated agreement, the payment of three and a half months of withheld salaries from the 2022 strike, proper funding of universities through revitalisation funds, as well as improvements in salaries, welfare packages, and university autonomy. He noted that after the 2022 strike, lecturers returned to the classrooms, delivered lectures, and conducted examinations, yet out of seven and a half months of withheld salaries, only four months had been paid.
The ASUU-BUK leader further lamented that since the Goodluck Jonathan administration approved a N200 billion revitalisation fund, intended to be disbursed in six tranches, only one tranche had so far been released. According to him, these funds are vital to ensuring quality teaching and research, as they are needed for equipping laboratories, stocking libraries, improving classrooms, and creating a conducive learning environment for students.
He warned that the Federal Government would be held responsible for any future actions that may follow if the demands are not met, adding that the union would decide its next move after convening a national emergency congress.
In his remarks, the President of the BUK Students’ Union Government, Abdullahi Usman-Baba, appealed to the government to engage ASUU in dialogue, stressing that students bear the greatest burden whenever strikes occur, as their academic calendar suffers disruption.
