Gabriel Dike and Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has called on the Federal Government to immediately end the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)’s strike, which is now 62 days.
In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki emphasised the need for Nigeria’s universities to be re-opened without further delay.
“In November 2016, Senate intervened in the ASUU strike and met with officials of the ministries of Education and Labour, Employment and Productivity and the union.
“At that meeting, which was attended by the Minister of State for Education Anthony Anwuka and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity in the National Assembly, we agreed that the Federal Government should work to implement the agreement that it reached with ASUU in 2009, and subsequently, we set up a sub-committee to liase with ASUU and the government on this issue.
“The Federal Government must immediately work to address ASUU’s demands because this issue goes beyond negotiations. It is affecting the education of Nigerian students, and disenfranchising many of them from participating in the upcoming general elections.
Meanwhile, barring any last minute changes, ASUU may suspend its three months old strike today.
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, told newsmen, last weekend, in Abuja, that government has resolved virtually all contentious areas which prompted the strike on November 4, 2018.
Adamu was optimistic that ASUU and Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) would follow the footsteps of College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) to call off the strike for the benefit of students whose academic programmes have been interrupted.
In a related development, ASUU’s National Executive Council will meet, today, to consider the outcome of a referendum conducted by its various branches.
The referendum was to consider government’s new offer of N25 billion, from the N50 billion demanded by the union.
Various chapters of ASUU, on Tuesday, concluded the referendum which had three issues for determination; continue with the strike, suspend the strike with conditions and unconditional suspension of the strike.
Before the referendum, zonal coordinators briefed chairmen on the outcome of the last meeting with the federal government team and the directive for the branches to make inputs.
The national leadership of ASUU gave the branches between Monday and Tuesday to conduct the referendum and the results will be debated at NEC meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
Some of the chairmen confirmed the directive of the national body on the referendum based on the new offer from the federal government but they declined to reveal the outcome of the referendum.