ASUU Strike latest: VP Sambo takes over government’s negotiation

ASUU has been on strike since June 30.
The Vice President Namadi Sambo has, in
a bid to end the continuous gridlock in the
dialogue between the Academic Staff
Union of Universities, ASUU and federal
government, taken over the negotiation
process. The government’s negotiation
team was formerly headed by the
Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Pius Anyim.
For the first time since the
commencement of the over 10-week-old
strike action by the union, the Vice
President met with the leadership of the
union at the Presidential Villa on
Thursday.
The meeting was held behind closed
doors.
Nigerian Universities have been shut
down since June 30 as a result of federal
government’s failure to honour an
agreement signed between it and ASUU in
2009 bothering on issues of university
funding and improvement of
infrastructure in the sector.
Speaking to journalists at the Presidential
Villa after the closed door meeting, the
ASUU President, Nasir Fagge, said that he
was taking back a “message given to him
at the meeting for his members” and that
Nigerians would have to wait for the
response of his members on the way
forward.
“We have had a meeting with the Vice
President and he has given us a message
to our members, and we said that as the
messengers that we are, we are going to
deliver the message faithfully to our
members and then they will take the
decision.”
According to him, “I know Nigerians are
expecting a solution to the strike, we also
want a solution, but I have been given a
message to our members. The message is
not for Nigerians, it is for our members”.
“If I deliver the message, our principal
will decide and we will get back to the
ministry of education within this week,” he
added, saying the union would get back to
the education minister on its stance on
the government’s latest offer.
The federal government had offered N100
billion and N30 billion for infrastructure
development in various universities and
payment of verified earned allowances of
lecturers respectively. It is not clear if the
government made an improved offer for
the lecturers whose only demand is that
government implements fully the 2009
agreement.
The Minister of State for Education,
Nyesom Wike, who was also at the
meeting, explained that the meeting had
been convened to find a lasting solution
to the crisis.
“One is quit hopeful that ASUU is
committed, they have the passion and
that there is the need for us to move the
education sector forward.
“ASUU coming to discuss means that they
are committed on their own part and that
the federal government is also committed.
We have gone very far, we believe that in
no distance time, you will have a very
good result,” he said.
Also on the ASUU delegation were two
former Presidents of ASUU, Dipo Fasina
and Abdullahi Sule-Kano.
Other members of the government’s
delegation included the Executive
Secretary of the National Universities
Commission (NUC), Julius Okojie; as well
as the Vice Chancellors of Bayero
University Kano (BUK), University of
Ibadan (UI) and Abubakar Tafawa
Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi,
Abdulrasheed Abubakar, Isaac Adewole,
and Muhammed Muhammed respectively.

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