ASUU says the strike will go on until the government meets all of its demands.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has stated that the strike will not be called off until the Federal Government complies with all of the union’s demands.

If the FG wants the strike to be called off next Monday, ASUU says it must meet its demands.

To pound home their demands, union members recently shut down campuses across the country.

The leadership of ASUU met with the Federal Government on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, to resolve their differences.

During the meeting, the Federal Government’s representative, Dr Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, refuted the union’s claim that the FG failed to implement some long-standing agreements.
In an interview with Punch after the meeting, the minister stated that ASUU requests were being evaluated.

Also Read: ASUU set to go on a one-month warning strike.

“We’ve talked about a lot of things, and I’m encouraging them to brief their people and call off the strike before the one-month warning strike period expires.

We would have addressed some of the points they are raising by Monday and would return to them for additional conversation.

We’ll meet with them again, as well as the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, and we’ll go from there,” he said.

ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, told the publication in a separate interview that the union would not call off the strike till all of its demands were met.

“If the FG implements and meets all of our demands, we can call off the strike tomorrow. It is in their hands, not ours, to meet all of the requests. If they want it called off this week or next week, it’s doable if they do what they’re supposed to do instead of making empty promises that we’re not sure they’ll follow through on. But, as is customary, if you call off the strike, they will forsake everything.” He stated.

Meanwhile, Ngige has urged ASUU not to intimidate the investigation committee and the Ministry of Education, claiming that if they do, their documents will be rejected.

“We set up a committee in the ministry of education to look into it because they are the lecturers’ direct employers,” he explained.

Professor Manzali led the committee, and there was a draft plan that the education ministry had to agree to, after which it was broken up and sent to the government’s higher bodies, the Presidential Committee on Salaries, and finally to the FEC for approval.

ASUU should not use intimidation to force the education ministry or the committee to do things that are not in line with the normal pace. The document will not fly if they do so. Within two weeks, the ministry of education would resurrect that committee to look at the draft proposal it had with ASUU and come up with something for the PSC to consider and bring to the FEC.”

In response, Osodeke stated that all the union wanted was for the government to follow through on its agreements with Nigerian university instructors.

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