ASUU/NEC Meeting Postponed Till SATURDAY

Already, chairmen of local chapters of
ASUU are converging on Kano,
preparatory to the meeting, from where a
positive resolution is being expected.
Chairman of one of the federal universities
in the South-South, who did not want his
name mentioned, said the strike “may be
suspended on Saturday.”
“Many of the chapters are disposed to
ending this strike, which has cost us all a
full semester. “As I speak with you, we
(chairmen) are on our way to Kano for
NEC meeting tomorrow (today).” Asked if
the strike would be suspended, he said: “I
think so, judging by reports from the
Monday congresses we held
simultaneously. We may suspend the
strike on Saturday or Sunday.”
He, however, admonished government to
ensure that it honoured its promise so as
not to return the university system to this
“sorry past”. This, of course, formed the
basis for the Monday congresses and
today’s “decider” NEC meeting.
The Kano meeting is to deliberate on
whether to call off the strike as the NEC
receives reports of the congresses that
held “simultaneously” in all the
universities across the country. Local
chapters of ASUU had held their
congresses on Monday to vote on the
suspension or otherwise.
The said agreement, which necessitated
the subsisting July 1 action, required that
the Federal Government will, within a
period of five years, release more than
N1trn, to bridge the noticeable
infrastructural deficits in the nation’s
ivory towers. Also, the Federal
Government would have released N92bn,
for what the union christened, “earned
allowance.”
However, ASUU seems to have a moral
burden now as the Federal Government
said it had released over N30bn as part of
the contentious earned allowance. Last
week’s meeting of the Fagge-led ASUU
with President Jonathan at the
Presidential Villa, prompted positive steps
by ASUU towards ending the strike.
At the meeting, President Jonathan was
said to have pledged government’s
readiness to release N220bn in next
year’s budget and in subsequent
appropriations.
Meanwhile, the University of Jos, UNIJOS,
chapter of the union explained its support
for the continuation of the ongoing strike.
After considering the outcome of the
meeting which the union’s national body
had with President Jonathan, members of
the branch had last Monday voted in
favour of the continuation of the four
month- old strike.
The UNIJOS branch of ASUU said the
meeting with the President achieved
nothing, a position which had also been
condemned by some stakeholders The
Branch Chairman, Dr. David Jangkham,
said yesterday in Jos, the Plateau State
capital, that his members were compelled
to take the stand because of the
government’s insensitivity to their plight.