The Federal Government and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday agreed on the modalities worked out by the government to ensure an amicable resolution of all disputed issues.
This was the outcome of a meeting between representatives of the Federal Government and ASUU, held at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education, at the instance of the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, with the ASUU delegation led by its President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke.
In attendance at the meeting, led by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, were the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, and the Acting Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), among others. The ASUU delegation included former ASUU Presidents Dr. Abdullahi Sule-Kano, Dr. Nasir Isa Fagge, and Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, among others.
After deliberations for about three hours, the parties involved in the dialogue also agreed that the meeting be reconvened on September 6th, 2024, to review the progress made by the Federal Government in addressing the contentious issues.
The meeting, held behind closed doors, was a last-ditch effort by the government to prevent the lecturers from embarking on the proposed indefinite strike action following the expiration of the 21-day strike notice handed to the Federal Government about 10 days ago.
Some of the issues in dispute include the revitalization fund for public universities, the payment of outstanding earned academic allowances, and the release of withheld salaries, promotion arrears, and third-party deductions for ASUU members.
Other issues include the stoppage of illegal recruitments, the proliferation of public universities/abuse of university laws, regulations, and processes, and the removal of universities from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and new IPPIS, vis-a-vis the autonomy of universities.
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In his earlier remarks before the closed-door meeting, the Minister of Education expressed the Federal Government’s determination to do all that is necessary to avoid plunging the nation’s universities into crisis. Osodeke also urged the government to meet the Union’s demands to ensure industrial harmony.
While briefing newsmen at the end of the meeting, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said the meeting was positive and productive, adding that ASUU had agreed on the modalities worked out by the government to effectively address the issues in dispute.
He said, “We had a sincere discussion on all issues agitating the lecturers in the nation’s universities, and we have worked out modalities on how to make progress on them. The task before us now is to work on those modalities towards solving the problems.
“We are reconvening on September 6th to report on the progress made in resolving the issues. When we come back, we will be able to say where we are and what we want to achieve for the university sector,” he said.
President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, on his part, said the Union reviewed the progress made by the Federal Government in addressing some of the issues raised in the last meeting and the government’s plans to meet the Union’s demands before the expiration of the ultimatum earlier handed to the government.
He urged the Federal Government to, in the interest of the students and the nation at large, ensure an amicable resolution of the contentious issues in order to maintain a smooth academic system in the nation’s universities.
“We have met, we discussed all the issues, what they have done since the last meeting, and today we reviewed them. We will see what they accomplish on these issues between now and the next meeting.
“We are meeting again on the 6th, and we hope, in the interest of Nigerian students and Nigeria as a country, that these issues will be amicably resolved to maintain a smooth academic system in our country,” he said.
