FG Re-opens Talks With ASUU Over Strike

THE Federal Government may have reopened
dialogue with the leadership of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in a bid to
end the over two months old strike.

This came just as the National Association of
Nigerians Students (NANS) urged both government and ASUU to return back to the negotiation table, with each party willing to shift ground from their previous positions.

Indications to the new development with
ASUU emerged on Monday, when journalists
were called to cover the meeting, which was eventually postponed till next week, with a
ministry official saying this was to allow the
supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom
Wike, get proper briefing on the current

standpoint of the issues involved.
Wike was joined by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, for the
meeting scheduled for 12 noon at the Federal
Ministry of Education conference room before
it was called off.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the
resumption of talks followed the exit of the former Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, who was dropped last week by President Goodluck Jonathan
alongside eight other ministers.

The negotiation between the government and
leadership of ASUU broke down over disagreement on payment of academic earned allowance to union members.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian students, under the
auspices of NANS, have called on both the Federal Government and ASUU to return back
to the negotiation table, in order to resolve their differences in good faith.

Acting Senate president of NANS, John Shima,
while addressing newsmen in Abuja, lauded the sack of Professor Rufa’i and other ministers, as part of the initiatives of President Jonathan to retool the government. 

“ASUU and Federal Government should go
back to the negotiating table. Even after wars,
issues are resolved at the roundtable. Nigerian
students have been idle for 78 days.

“Nigerian students are tired of sitting at home.
Both parties are urged to shift ground to ensure quick resolution of the crisis.

“We lost almost three years of study time in the
last 10 years due to strikes; the lost time being
enough to graduate a student in Germany,”
Shima said.

Meanwhile, Benue State governor, Mr Gabriel Suswam, has vowed to get tough on striking lecturers of Benue State University, Makurdi, by evoking “no work, no pay” policy if they refuse to call off what he described as their
“sympathy strike,” which had paralysed

academic activities in the state. Suswam said state-owned universities like that
of Benue had no reason whatsoever to remain
on strike, since it was federal universities and
not states that were earlier involved in the
negotiation with the Federal Government.
Suswam explained that Benue State University had been benefiting fully from the earned

allowance for which the Federal Government
voted N30 billion and had no cause to be
complaining.

The governor, while addressing communicant
members of the Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria, at Achusa village, Makurdi, at the
weekend, decried the extent to which the
strike had gone and admonished the
authorities of the institution to expedite action
towards suspending the protracted strike for
students to resume in the next one week. He condemned the level of dilapidated

infrastructure in most state-owned
universities, including Benue State University,
but applauded the Federal Government for the
release of N100 billion to assuage the

problem. Benue State University, the governor said, got
N950 million for the execution of six projects
within the institution, while he expressed
optimism that the funds would be judiciously
used for the growth of the university.