FG RE-OPENS TALKS WITH ASUU OVER STRIKE

Federal Government may have reopened
dialogue with the leadership of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), in a bid to
end the over two months old strike.
This came just as the National Association of
Nigerians Students (NANS) urged both government
and ASUU to return back to the negotiation
table, with each party willing to shift ground
from their previous positions.
Indications to the new development with ASUU
emerged on Monday, when journalists were called
to cover the meeting, which was eventually
postponed till next week, with a ministry
official saying this was to allow the
supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom
Wike, get proper briefing on the current
standpoint of the issues involved.
Wike was joined by the Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, for the meeting
scheduled for 12 noon at the Federal Ministry of
Education conference room before it was called
off.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the resumption of
talks followed the exit of the former Minister
of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'i,
who was dropped last week by President Goodluck
Jonathan alongside eight other ministers.
The negotiation between the government and
leadership of ASUU broke down over disagreement
on payment of academic earned allowance to union
members.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian students, under the
auspices of NANS, have called on both the
Federal Government and ASUU to return back to
the negotiation table, in order to resolve their
differences in good faith.
Acting Senate president of NANS, John Shima,
while addressing newsmen in Abuja, lauded the
sack of Professor Rufa'i and other ministers, as
part of the initiatives of President Jonathan to
retool the government.
"ASUU and Federal Government should go back to
the negotiating table. Even after wars, issues
are resolved at the roundtable. Nigerian
students have been idle for 78 days.
"Nigerian students are tired of sitting at home.
Both parties are urged to shift ground to ensure
quick resolution of the crisis.
"We lost almost three years of study time in the
last 10 years due to strikes; the lost time
being enough to graduate a student in Germany,"
Shima said.
Meanwhile, Benue State governor, Mr Gabriel
Suswam, has vowed to get tough on striking
lecturers of Benue State University, Makurdi, by
evoking "no work, no pay" policy if they refuse
to call off what he described as their "sympathy
strike," which had paralysed academic activities
in the state. Suswam said state-owned
universities like that of Benue had no reason
whatsoever to remain on strike, since it was
federal universities and not states that were
earlier involved in the
negotiation with the Federal Government.
Suswam explained that Benue State University had
been benefiting fully from the earned allowance
for which the Federal Government voted N30
billion and had no cause to be complaining.
The governor, while addressing communicant
members of the Reformed Church of Christ in
Nigeria, at Achusa village, Makurdi, at the
weekend, decried the extent to which the strike
had gone and admonished the authorities of the
institution to expedite action towards
suspending the protracted strike for students to
resume in the next one week. He condemned the
level of dilapidated infrastructure in most
state-owned universities, including Benue State
University, but applauded the Federal Government
for the release of N100 billion to assuage the
problem. Benue State University, the governor
said, got N950 million for the execution of six
projects within the institution, while he
expressed optimism that the funds would be
judiciously used for the growth of the
university.
Source:- The Tribune

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