NIGERIA (Lagos) –Just few days after members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off a five-month industrial strike embarked upon to press for the implementation of an agreement signed in 2009 with the Federal Government, members of the body in Lagos State University (LASU) are ready for another showdown with the Lagos State government.

While addressing journalists in Lagos, Dr. Adekunle Idris, Chairman, ASUU, Lagos State University (LASU) Chapter, said the congress in the university had mandated the executive council and the managements to resolve the issue through dialogue with the state government to forestall looming crises.

The union leader, however, said that they may be forced to declare an industrial action if the dialogue with the government failed to achieve the desired result.

Dr. Idris added that the state government has not implemented the Universities Miscellaneous Provision Act 2012 in LASU.

“This law was passed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria for effective running of universities and we were part of ASUU /FG 2009 agreement.

“One of the provisions of the agreement is that academic staff on professional cadre shall retire at age 70 and non-academic staff at 65.

“It also says that principal officers shall serve for a single term of five years.

“The union had consistently called on all the stakeholders of the institution to intervene and resolve the pending issues in LASU during the five and a half months ASUU strike,” he said.

Idris also urged the government to review the tuition fees in the university, noting that it had become the most expensive public university in Nigeria, making it unattractive to applicants.

“The 1416 candidates who applied for the 2013/2014 Post-UTME used to be just two arms of the accounting department when the fees were N25,000.

“There is an assurance that the number of candidates short-listed for admission will drop when some of them finally know the total amount they will be paying.

“It is exorbitant for a student in the faculty of education to pay N197,000 while other departments pay N250,000 and the medical students pay N350,000.

“The founding fathers meant that education should be made available and affordable to all citizens of Nigeria especially indigenes of Lagos State but the current school fees has defeated that objective,” he said.