The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, says the months-long strike will be called off in a few days.
He made the disclosure after meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
READ ALSO: Universities Strike: Speaker Gbajabiamila confident of President Buhari’s resolution
Osodeke said that the leadership of ASUU had taken note of what was covered by the meeting and would get back to their members and do everything possible to resolve the matter amicably.
“We have actually met briefly in the speaker’s office and looked at all issues and he briefed us. And we have taken note of what they have covered. But my union you know we operate bottom up, we don’t take decisions on their behalf without having their consent. So, we have agreed that between now and tomorrow we are going to get some documents signed that we can take to our members and we will do that as quickly as possible in the interest of all of us Nigerians and the students so that this thing can be resolved as quickly as possible.“ Osodeke said.
He expressed the Union’s hope that this was going to be the last of the strikes in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
“Our struggle, thank God the National Assembly is joining us, is for the educational system in Nigeria. We want to have a university in Nigeria where we have to get money from students all over the world and to pay in hard currency as they pay that, the system will grow. That is why we are in this struggle. We want to have a university where the remuneration is enough to attract lecturers from all over the world just as our people are going out. As we speak today, we are having problems, we don’t notice it, we are creating so many universities but there are no good people, qualified people to teach in those universities but the good ones are leaving. We just put people there which is not good enough. We must create the environment, we are the giant of Africa and we must act like the giant of Africa, we see people coming in droves not we leaving. That’s why we are here.”
The ASUU National President advised the government not to allow strikes to linger long before taking action.
“I want to appeal that in future, we should not allow strikes to linger. Strike should not go beyond two days. If the way the National Assembly has intervened, if you have done that long ago from the beginning, or those who are in charge of labour and education have done exactly this, we will not be where we are today. We would not have stayed more than two or three weeks in this strike. Strike is all over the world, UK, US, all over but they don’t allow it to last. We hope that working together in the next few days we will put an end to this particular imbroglio in the Nigerian educational system.“ Prof. Osodeke stressed.
He also noted that if the House had intervened in the same manner over the matter at the beginning of the problem, the strike would have been over in a matter of days.
Earlier, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila said all demands made by the Academic Staff Union of Universities have been met.
He said that the government agreed to work with ASUU to make sure that all their demands are met, in the interest of Nigerian students.
“I’m very hopeful and very excited that this strike will be called off in a number of days. We met in my office and the outcome is going to be positive. This is a recap to seal the deal on what has been a long fought battle, long hard road for everybody both for ASUU, the students and the government. As you would recall, some weeks ago the House got involved in this crisis and we had long, tough, intense meetings AUSU. We had meetings with those on the government side and we are happy to report that as the result of the consultation and intervention of the House, very significant progress has been made and we are more or less at the end of the road. Save for dotting some “I”s and crossing some “T”s. We agreed with ASUU and government on certain things which we took to Mr President. I have visited the president twice. First time we made our recommendations with the government shifting some and ASUU shifting some. We spoke with Mr President. There was one sticking issue which was the issue of no work no pay. And the President did ask that he would suggest the recommendations and would have one more meeting which we did on Friday after the budget presentation. That meeting was even better than the first one we had with him, and Mr President had agreed to settle things. I am not going to talk about that now, and that he would disclose whatever it is tomorrow, Tuesday which is tomorrow. On that one remainder issues,“ Gbajabiamila said.
The Speaker noted that with the level of success recorded if the meeting with ASUU had been held on Sunday, the strike may have been called off by Monday.
“I believe we have covered ground, covered most of the thorny issues and it is basically, what we have agreed with ASUU is basically to put everything on paper and sign off and I believe if we had met yesterday and the papers had been drawn up, ASUU I am sure would have called of the strike today. But we only just met behind closed doors now and so we have to draw up the agreement as i have stated to you, and hopefully in the next couple of days, of course ASUU has to get back to its bases as well, once that is agreed, i am very hopeful and very excited about the possibility or probability the strike would be called of in a manner of days.“ The Speaker said.
He also said that beyond that the other several issues have been taken care of.
“We were able to make sure that what ASUU was asking for in terms of revitalization, salary, that there has been significant improvement, revitalization has been provided for in the budget. We made sure of that. The salary structure has been looked at and there has been improvement as well, and we made sure of that. As you heard Mr President say during his budget presentation. He appealed to ASUU to go back to class and that N470 billion total has been included in the budget. The issue of issues which was another important issue both ASUU and the office of the Accountant General and government have agreed that they will work together and the peculiarities of UTAS that is required for the payment platform IPPIS, they would sit down together and the chairman committee on tertiary education would also be part of that tripartite sit down arrangement to include all those things that are required by ASUU in the IPPIS platform. I want to thank the union for having come this far and having reported at every moment that we have called them. Even today’s meeting was called just today and at such short notice, you were here and we have met in my office and I believe we have concluded positively. We did this for the sake of our students and children and I hope it would be a thing of the past. I thank you very much, ASUU. I also thank Nigerians for their patience, and the students, having endured these many months. But I believe that this has hopefully come to an end in a matter of days.”
He added that following a meeting with President Buhari on Friday, the president would make a pronouncement on Tuesday on the ongoing ASUU-FG face-off.
ASUU/Government Negotiations
Lecturers of public universities have been on strike since February 14, 2022, over welfare and unpaid allowance.
After unfruitful negotiations between ASUU and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, the appellate court last Friday ordered the striking lecturers to resume duty immediately.
READ ALSO: Appeal Court Orders Universities Association To Resume Work
The Court also granted ASUU conditional leave to appeal the order of the Industrial Court, while insisting that ASUU must obey the order of the lower court with effect from October 7.
As talks between ASUU and the Federal Government broke down, Ngige last Tuesday registered two factional academic unions – Congress of Nigerian Universities Academics (CONUA) and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA).
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Friday said the country would soon hear from President Muhammadu Buhari on the protracted ASUU strike.
Gbajabiamila, who met with the President at the State House for the second time in one week over the ASUU strike, said discussions with the President were fruitful, adding that Buhari would make known his decisions to the public after reviewing the lawmakers’ recommendations.
During his budget presentation speech at the National Assembly earlier on Friday, Buhari said a total of N470 billion has been earmarked in the 2023 budget for revitalisation and salary enhancements in the nation’s tertiary institutions, addressing some of ASUU’s main demands.
Additional Research/PIAK
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