The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities meeting on Thursday, which lasted till early hours of Friday, yielded some fruits as both parties were able to resolve many issues that necessitated the strike action by the lecturers.
In a communiqué issued after the 14-hour meeting, the Federal Government gave the union a one-week ultimatum to go and inform their members of some of the resolutions reached at the meeting and get back to the government.
Explaining the communiqué to newsmen at about 3:30am after the meeting on Friday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said that the Federal Government had pledged itself to the contentious issues raised by the union.
“To remind you, some of them are the funding of universities, earned academic allowances, staff schools, salary shortfalls, the issue of the Treasury Single Account among others. Most of these issues stem from the 2009 agreement and the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding that the government had with ASUU.
“Government is a continuum. Most of these issues did not crop up during the Buhari administration. We inherited them. Based on our conclusions, the ASUU will consult with its members and revert to the government within one week. We expect them within one week. The meeting was very cordial,” Ngige said.
In his response, ASUU president, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, assured that the executives of the union would discuss the decisions reached at the meeting with their members and get back to the Federal Government before the expiration of the ultimatum.
The university lecturers had on August 13 declared a total indefinite strike following alleged failure of the Federal Government to fulfill agreement it entered with ASUU eight years ago.
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