ASUU: if govt implements agreements within two weeks, strike is not imminent

If the agreements negotiated are implemented by the Federal Government within the next two weeks, the Academic Staff Union of Universities has stated that a strike is not likely to occur.

This was stated by ASUU President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke in a Monday interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

Recall that ASUU had threatened to go on strike in response to the federal government’s failure to carry out agreements.

On June 26, Prof. Tahir Mamman, the Minister of Education, extended an invitation to the union to a meeting so that they could discuss the outstanding problems that universities face and discuss ways to prevent the strike.

None of the agreements made with the Federal Government, according to Osodeke, have been put into practice.

“At the meeting called by the Minister of Education, we agreed that after two weeks, we will meet to see the progress the government has made.

“We will also see what we will do next if the government fail to implement the agreements reached.

“The meeting in the next two weeks is to see what they have done which will inform our decision,” he said.

The non-implementation of the 2009 renegotiated accords was one of the demands, according to the ASUU president.

He stated that the agreements had been around for more than six years and the administration had not yet put them into effect.

According to Osodeke, nothing has been done to address the academic allowances owed to their members, which have accrued for more than six years.

Regarding the revitalisation fund, he stated that the Needs Assessment Report had determined that N200 billion should be raised annually for a period of five years.

“Since 2013, only one has been paid. We need revitalisation funds to upgrade our universities to standard so that we can have students and lecturers from outside the country,” he said.

Oshodeke continued, saying that the government had not yet put an end to the growth of institutions and that numerous new ones were being allowed without the necessary funding to operate.

In accordance with the Federal Executive Council’s January approval, he said, the government has not yet removed the university’s salary payment from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.

He said that despite the FEC’s directive, IPPIS was still paying their members.

NAN