By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given the Federal Government four weeks to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and address other unresolved issues affecting the nation’s university system.
ASUU gave the ultimatum while announcing the suspension of its ongoing two-week warning strike, which the union embarked on Monday, October 13.
The National President of ASUU, Professor Chris Piwuna, made this known at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, October 22.
Piwuna said the decision to suspend the strike was reached at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, which was held overnight and ended by 4:00 am on Wednesday.
He stated that the warning strike was due to the government’s failure to meet its demands on time, adding that the suspension of the strike was in recognition of efforts and mediation by students, parents, the media, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the National Assembly, and other well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the dispute.
ASUU’s National Chairman, however, warned that should the government fail to resolve the outstanding issues within the one-month window, the union would have no option but to resume strike action without further notice.
He said: “We’ve had useful engagements with representatives of the government to consider the response to the draft renegotiation of the 2009 agreements. However, we are definitely not where we were prior to the commencement of the strike.
“The union acknowledged that the government returned to the negotiation table. While noting that a lot more work is still required, NEC came to the conclusion that the ongoing strike should be reviewed. The decision to review the strike action was a result of efforts by our students, parents, and the Nigeria Labour Congress.
“Consequently, NEC resolved to suspend the warning strike to reciprocate the efforts of well-meaning Nigerians.”
Piwuna also noted that following the commencement of the strike, the Federal Government re-engaged the union through a team led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, which met with ASUU representatives on October 16 and 18, to discuss the government’s response to the draft renegotiated agreement.
He added that though the meetings did not fully resolve all issues, the union recognised that significant progress had been made compared to the pre-strike period.
“We have not achieved all our objectives, but we are certainly not where we were before the strike began. This shows that had the government responded earlier, there would have been no need for the action,” Piwuna added.
Recall that ASUU, on Monday, October 13, declared a two-week warning strike to protest the government’s failure to honour agreements reached with the union.
Among the union’s demands are improvement in the work conditions of lecturers, the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, the release of withheld salaries, sustainable funding for the revitalisation of public universities, and an end to the victimisation of lecturers.
Others are the payment of outstanding 25-35 percent salary arrears, payment of promotion arrears for over four years, and release of withheld third-party deductions (cooperative contributions, union check-off dues).
However, the government, through the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said it had addressed all demands by ASUU and was open to continued negotiation to avert the strike.
The Federal Government consequently imposed the no-work-no-pay policy on striking members of the union.
