By Dorathy Tor
Parents/Stakeholders’ Forum (PSF) of the Benue State University (BSU), Makurdi, has appealed to Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members in the institution to pull out of the strike embarked on by the national body to enable them to catch up with accumulated academic calendar years.
Recall that ASUU commenced its ongoing strike on February 14, 2022, after the Federal Government refused to meet some of its demands including; the release of revitalisation funds for universities, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release of earned allowances for university lecturers, and deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
The appeal was contained in a statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the university, Mr Tser Vanger, last Tuesday in Makurdi.
In the statement, the PSF Chairperson, Mrs Keziah Agundo, expressed concern about the unutilised academic calendar months, explaining that the pullout would enable the lecturers to reduce the accumulated work.
She said the 2020/2021 undergraduate programmes were yet to be matriculated, while the 2022 unified matriculation tertiary examination admission is ongoing.
According to the statement, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Joe Tor lorapuu also called for the resumption of academic activities in the institution.
He explained that most of the grievances of the lectures bordered on funding.
The meeting was attended by top management employees of the university, including the BSU branch Chairman of ASUU, Dr Victor Tarnongu, who promised to present the demands of the PSF to the appropriate authorities.