Two weeks ultimatum: Clock is ticking, address our demands — ASUU to FG

…Consultations to continue across ministries to address Education woes – Minister

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has reiterated its resolve to embark on a nationwide strike if the Federal Government fails to address its outstanding demands, ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has disclosed.

Speaking after a meeting with government officials, Osodeke stated that the union has given assignments to the FG to address their demands, emphasising that the clock is ticking for a strike.

However, FG and ASUU have reached an agreement to resolve their contentious issues amicably, averting a potential strike.

The two parties held a closed-door meeting at the Ministry of Education’s headquarters in Abuja, which lasted over two hours.

The meeting was attended by the two Ministers of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman and Dr. Yusuf Sununu, and other top officials. ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, expressed optimism that the federal government would follow through on their agreements, marking the beginning of a negotiation process.

The ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who led the union’s team, told journalists after the meeting that the negotiation process had begun while hoping that the federal government would follow up on what had been agreed on.

“We have discussions on all the issues and we have given assignments to some people to look at, and agree on the way forward,” he said.

On the two-week ultimatum issued by the union, 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 is 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,” he said.

On his part,  Mamman said that consultations would commence immediately to overcome the problems bedevilling education.

“We’ve had a very good meeting and a very productive one. We’ve 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 a consensus on the way forward.

“A lot of consultations will continue on some information we don’t have, which is 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 bedevilling education in Nigeria,” he added.

NewsDirect reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been at loggerheads with the Nigerian government over various demands, threatening to embark on a nationwide strike if these issues are not addressed.

ASUU is seeking funding for the revitalization of public universities, which have been in a state of disrepair. The union is also demanding the payment of earned academic allowances (EAA), which have been withheld for several years.

Furthermore, ASUU is pushing for the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, which it feels has not been adequately implemented.

Additionally, the union is calling for the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a payment platform, instead of the controversial Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). ASUU is also demanding the constitution of visitation panels to assess the state of universities and recommend improvements.

The union is seeking a review of the Nigeria Universities Commission Act, which it believes needs to be updated to reflect the current realities in the education sector.

ASUU is also demanding the payment of withheld salaries and the remittance of check-off dues of unions, which have been withheld for several months.