- Proposed Strike Can Be Averted If Words Are Matched With Actions- ASUU
In a bid to forestall the industrial action planned by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and save Nigerian students the agony of spending several months at home, the Federal Government has commenced negotiations with the leadership of the union.
The Matrix reports that earlier, the union through its Uyo Chapter had issued a two-week ultimatum to the FG to address their demands or face industrial action.
The Chairperson of ASUU, Prof Opeyemi Olajide, recalled that in 2022, public universities embarked on an eight months strike over the outstanding issues and had to come back to classrooms in obedience to the rule of law.
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He expressed regrets that two years later, the Federal Government is not willing to honour the agreement and attend to their demands.
Reacting to this at the end of the meeting which was held behind closed doors at the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman expressed optimism that all issues raised will be amicably resolved.
The President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodoke, on his part said the proposed strike by the union can be averted if words are matched with action.
He told journalists after the meeting that the negotiation process had begun and urged the federal government to follow up on the agreement between both parties.
He said: “We have discussions on all the issues and we have given assignments to some people to look at, and agreed on the way forward.”
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On the two-week ultimatum issued by ASUU, Osodeke said they would go back and give the details of the meeting to their members.
“What is important is that we have started the process and our prayers are that we resolve it for the interest of our young men and the interest of the nation.
“The government has spent one year in office and we have not been called for any formal meeting. Today we are having the first formal meeting.
“There is a process we have started and we are going to set deadlines, we are going to meet to look at what has been done on those issues and we hope the process will continue,” the ASUU president added.
On his part, Mamman said that consultations would commence immediately to overcome the problems bedeviling education.
“We had a very good meeting and a very productive one. We have discussed progress on how to ensure that the system works well and lots of the issues we talked about are those that we inherited and some ongoing.
“We discussed them all without exception and we have consensus on the way forward.
“A lot of consultations will still continue on some information we don’t have, which are beyond the scope of the ministry and which will require us to connect with our colleagues in other ministries.
“But, the most important thing is that we had a very good meeting and agreed to continue with the consultations to overcome the problems bedeviling education in Nigeria,” the minister stated.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to forestall an industrial action by ASUU, The Nigeria Union of Journalists has appealed to President Bola Tinubu, to urgently address the pending issue with ASUU before it snowballs into another major crisis.
Its President, Chris Iziguso, issued a 17-paragraph communique stating its demands and recommendations.
The union noted that it was important for the government to look into the recommendation of joint labour on the issue of the minimum wage, and also address the agitations of ASUU to avoid another crisis in the academic sector.
