The group, in a statement issued Damilare Adenola, its National Coordinator condemned the move by the Federal Government to set up a renegotiation team to review the contents of the 2009 ASUU/Federal government memorandum of Agreement for three months.
The Take It Back Movement student wing has declared its solidarity with members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the union.
The group, in a statement issued Damilare Adenola, its National Coordinator condemned the move by the Federal Government to set up a renegotiation team to review the contents of the 2009 ASUU/Federal government memorandum of Agreement for three months.
The group described this as “a leap in the wrong direction" reiterating its support for the demands of ASUU. The TIB also stated that ASUU's demand was non-negotiable as it advised the government to instead review the bountiful pay checks of senators and house of rep members.
The statement reads, “Since ASUU took the bold step of embarking on an industrial action to press home the demand for revitalisation of education three weeks ago, the Federal government taking a leap in the wrong direction has constituted a renegotiation team to review for three months the content of 2009 ASUU/Federal government memorandum of Agreement.
“First of all, that is wrong; the content of an agreement which has already been reached and signed cannot be revisited again for altercation. The reviewing exercise to us is like placing number 4 after number 5 when we all know that 6 is the next number to 5.
“After a contract is made, the next plus correct step is performance, which in this instance is the implementation of all promises made by the Federal government. We take position with ASUU in line with the foregoing to reject the time wasting exercise tagged as “renegotiating team” the Buhari-led government is trying to engage our lecturers with.
“We once again restate that all ASUU demands in the 2009 MOA from upgrading lecturer’s salary to Building and digitally equipping classrooms to world standard are non-negotiable as they are entitlement of the masses, rather what should be subject to prompt revisiting is the bountiful pay checks of Senators and House of Representatives members.
“Meanwhile the Take It Back Movement Student wing acknowledges all other student bodies which have been fighting the menace of school shutdown and strongly stand with all in the struggle.
“Particularly we strongly commend the National Association of Nigerian Students zone D’ decision to walk with ASUU in a protest to further pressure the government of the day to fund education and slash cost of government, and show commitment to walk with ASUU in this generational call to struggle and to make sure that till we achieve the world-standard education sector that we want our lecturers(ASUU) will never walk alone.”