The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kano zone, has called on the federal government to address all the outstanding issues in the agreements and memoranda they signed with the union to ensure industrial harmony in Nigeria.

The zonal coordinator, Abdulqadir Muhammad, made the call during a news briefing at the end of a zonal meeting on Thursday in Kano, comprising the seven universities in the zone.

He explained that the issues included the government’s renegotiation of the ASUU 2009 agreement, funding for the revitalisation of public universities for global reckoning, and respect for university autonomy.

According to him, the non-signing of the draft renegotiated agreement has led to widespread discontent and declining morale among their members, resulting in a brain drain.

“Therefore, ASUU Kano zone calls on the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to respect the provisions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) convention, to which Nigeria is a signatory,” the union zonal coordinator stated.

He also called for the release of funds to pay salary arrears, Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), and withheld salary.

On university autonomy, the union called on the Kano government to immediately reinstate the arbitrarily dissolved governing council of the two state-owned universities.

ASUU Kano zone further called on the Kano governments to take a queue from the presidential directive resulting from a court ruling to exempt tertiary institutions from IPPIS and stop illegal enrollment of their members into related platforms.

On the state of the nation, ASUU expressed worry over recurring insecurity, poverty, unemployment, rising cost of living, livelihood displacement, and heightened destitution in the country.

They also called on the government to urgently review the Nigeria Universities Commission (NUC) Act to check the proliferation of universities in the country without adequate funding.

(NAN)