Despite all the positive talk by members of the federal government team with regards the ASSU strike been called off was dashed Thursday after the Federal Government constituted committee chaired by the Benue State Governor, Hon. Gabriel Suswan in a meeting with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, failed to agree on the contentious issues.
There were expectations that ASUU could call off the strike after the meeting as the National President of the union Dr. Nasir Fagge had previously said that calling off the strike was dependent upon what the Federal government would place on the table in respect of the implementation of the 2009 agreement.
Speaking to reporters on the outcome of the meeting, Dr. Fagge said, “Well it was inaugural meeting, so naturally nothing much was achieved. It is just that the chairman (Governor Gabriel Suswan) told us how he wants to carry out the assignment.
“And then he said that he thinks we should have a sub-committee that will liaise with TET Fund and National Planning Commission to get more information on the technical report that was submitted by the Needs Assessment Committee and on the basis of that, projects will be identified and will now look for the funding.”
On the promise he made that after the meeting the union would take a stand depending on what the government would place on the table, he said, “There is no change any way because the meeting today is just considering one aspect of the agreement, which is funding.
“So what we did today was to have an inaugural meeting on funding and our members nationwide said nothing short of implementation of all aspects of the agreement will make them call off the strike, so like I said whatever meeting we are invited, we will go and give our members information.
“ like I said today’s meeting was an inaugural meeting nothing much was achieved there order than how to go and implementing the Needs Assessment Report which is an aspect of funding aspect of the agreement, so we will wait and see whatever government decides to do with the agreement, we are there.
In similar News, The Federal Government expressed worry at the distortion in school calendar as a result of the on-going strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities saying that it is committed to the speedy resolution of the crisis for the sake of Nigerian students.
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku told state House correspondents at the end of Federal Executive Council meeting that government was committed to “serious negotiations” with the university lecturers.
The Minister appealed to the students and parents to bear with government and show more understanding as efforts are being made to resolve the contending issues very soon.
“The federal government has been far more worried than you think concerning the strike in tertiary institutions, because of the disruption of the school calendar and so government is concerned and very worried and since the onset of the strike government has been negotiating with ASUU through the Ministry of Labour and Productivity and the Ministry of Education.
“As at today we know that this negotiations are going on and it is our expectation that this strike will not get more protracted and that an understanding will be reached soon enough to enable our students return back to school. Government is very worried and concerned every time the school calendar is disrupted, it has its cost to the nation, particularly the idle time our children spend at home can lead to alot of social difficulties.
“We don’t want school calendars to be disrupted and a lot of series of discussions have been going on and we believe we should record some progress soon enough for these schools to open and the Minister of Labour and education will be giving quarter briefing on the progress of these negotiation and I know that it has never cease.
“So we are appealing to our people particularly parents and children of this nation to bear with us, to show more understanding and we pray that this type of strike will not re-occur, because the public school system suffers a lot of damage with the perennial strikes. The universities have been relatively stable since the advent of this Administration. The outraged strikes that we inherited we have tried to resolve them, and if you notice in the last two years there has not been a lot of strikes until this unfortunate one and I believe we will overcome it and in the end both parties will appreciate the need to keep the school calendar stable for the progress of our country. So government is working hard to ensure we reach an agreement to resolve this problem so that or schools can re-open” he said.
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