The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have rejected the appeal by the federal government (FG) to resume duties while negotiations are ongoing. President Buhari had on Thursday, pleaded with the ASUU and other industry-based unions to go back to work when he spoke at the National Productivity Day Celebration held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. ASUU had, on Monday 9th of May 2021, extended its roll-over strike which started on February 14 by another 12 weeks, and other unions like the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational Institutions (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has since joined the industrial action.
The striking unions and the FG resumed negotiations on Thursday night after President Muhammadu Buhari directed his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and the Minister for Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige to lead the FG’s delegation, however, the negotiations fell through.
Though ASUU president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke refused to speak to journalists on the outcome of the meeting, however, one of the union members said that “There is nothing on ground for us to consider" except that the government wanted them to call off the strike which they rejected.
The Minister of Labour and Employment Senator who spoke to journalists after the meeting stated that “We have reached some agreements and we hope that by next week, those agreements will be maturing and the different unions will have something to tell their members so that they can call off the strike.
“We have put some timelines for some aspects like the renegotiation of 2009 agreement in terms of condition of service and wage review. So, we are hopeful that by next weekend, the unions will see a conclusion of that area”.
