The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says the union
is ready to suspend its ongoing strike if the federal government shows
willingness to accept its “minimum” demands.
Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU president, spoke on Thursday during a
national town hall meeting on tertiary education.
The town hall meeting was tagged: ‘The Locked Gates of our
Citadels – A National Emergency’.
ASUU has been on strike since February 14 over the federal
government’s failure to meet its demands, including on issues relating to the
funding of universities and lecturers’ salaries and allowances.
The federal government recently filed a suit against the
union at the national industrial court over the lingering strike.
Speaking during the town hall meeting, the ASUU president
said the suit will worsen the situation, adding that the union is ready to
engage with the federal government.
“On all these issues, we have given the government a minimum
that we can accept, but they have not responded on issue of revitalisation,
earned allowance and on other issues that we have all discussed,” NAN quoted
Osodeke as saying.
“We negotiated and
agreed that they should sign. This is very simple and it will not take more
than one day.
“On UTAS and IPPIS , we say ‘release the report of the test
you did, let’s look at the one who came first, and take it as we agreed’.
“So, we have given them the minimum we want and we have to
come down, and they can do it in one day if there is a will.
“If the government loves this country, these children, and
their parents, then they should come to the table and let us resolve these
issues in one day.
“Just as we did in
2014, they should come and ensure that we do that. We can even have the meeting
openly so that Nigerians will see what we are discussing.”
On her part, Vivian Bello, convener of Save Public Education
Campaign, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), appealed to the federal
government and ASUU to resolve the situation, adding that it is the students
who are bearing the negative impact of the strike.
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