From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Federal Government has slated another session of a reconciliatory meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for Monday next week, following the parties’ failure to reach a conclusion at the meeting Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on the outcome of the meeting with the university lecturers in Abuja yesterday, Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige said they touched on five areas of the union’s demands and both sides agreed to address some grey areas in the agreement.
According to the minister, officials of the Labour Ministry would be meeting the Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to iron out outstanding issues on the implementation of the agreement with ASUU.
‘The outcome of the meeting is that we have discussed and touched on all their five points demands. We have gone through all of them, sorted them out, and fixed a timeline for action on about four,’ he said.
‘Tomorrow on the government side, we will meet with the Finance Minister, Education and the Chief of Staff as directed by Mr President so that we can finalise certain grey areas in the issue of revitalisation funds for 2022.
Commenting on the date to reconvene, Ngige said: ‘We wanted to reconvene on Thursday but they said that one of their trustees, Prof. Lasisi Asobie was bereaved. He lost the wife, so they said they were going there Thursday and Friday. I am hopeful that we can reconvene next Monday.’
Meanwhile, Ngige has assured that the government would do all it could to end the ongoing industrial action by ASUU.
He said the government was taken aback by the renewed strike, which started on February 14.
According to him, the Federal Government was surprised ASUU acted against the understanding and assurances it gave through the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev Supo Ayokunle.
The minister, who said he was in Botswana for the African Regional Labour Administrative Centre (ARLAC) meeting when ASUU declared the strike, pointed out that he believed that the union and education ministry would have resolved the disputes within days.
‘I sincerely thought ASUU and the Ministry of Education would have resolved the issues, which hopefully are not major areas of dispute, warranting industrial action. To my surprise, I came back, and the strike is still on.
‘Be that as it may, it is the mandate of my ministry to apprehend industrial disputes wherever they occur, and we have apprehended this,’ the labour minister explained.
‘From this negotiation, we are having today (Tuesday), ASUU will appreciate that the government means no harm. This is because even if there are still lapses in the implementation of the agreement, they are not such that will lead to industrial action. To that extent, we have to do everything possible to resolve this.’
The minister expressed optimism that the strike would be called off soon to enable students to return to classes.
‘It should not be a one-month strike. In fact, there is nothing like a one-month strike or warning strike in labour parlance. Strike is strike. We want this to end as soon as possible, as we sort out all grey areas in the agreement as to the ILO Principles At Work allows for renegotiation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement,’ he noted.
‘I did a correspondence on the report by NITDA on UTAS to you (ASUU) in December 2021, and you sent your observation in a reply in February 2022. I made that available to all the parties involved. This is the observation from ASUU. So, as far as I’m concerned, it is a work in progress,’ he argued.
“I’m not the minister of education. My ministry is not your direct employer. But I take these proactive measures to fast-track agreements and ensure we meet the timelines,’ he noted.
Speaking to a Daily Sun Correspondent over the phone, ASUU President Prof Emmanuel Osodeke said the government had only made promises as usual and that the union would be awaiting implementation.
On whether ASUU would be calling off the strike based on the assurances of the Federal Government, Osodeke said ‘that is left for our members to decide. We will discuss with our members and decide if we are calling off the strike or not.’