“We are waiting for FG’s reply to our presentation,” says ASUU

Whether the four-and-a-half-month-old strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, would be called off soon now rests on the response of the Federal Government to the demands of the union made through a committee set up by the government to negotiate with it.

Checks by Vanguard on Monday showed that the national leadership of ASUU has made its presentation to the Prof. Nimi Briggs-led committee set up to renegotiate the 2009 agreement signed by the two sides.

Speaking in a telephone chat with Vanguard’s correspondent, the National President of ASUU,  Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said his union had done its best in the circumstance.

“We have made our presentation to the committee and there is nothing more to add,” he said.

On when the feedback is expected from the government’s side, he said, “They promised to get back to us within a short time.”

READ ALSO: Kaduna govt sacks 2,192 teachers for refusing to sit for competency test

Though he did not say anything about what the union’s presentation contained, it was gathered that union could give the government more time to meet some demands that have financial implications.

When contacted, Prof. Briggs said his committee had met with ASUU and had done its assignment.

“We have met and ASUU have made their presentation. Some people sent me on an errand and I have to report to them. The committee is not the final authority on this matter. We are not the ones to determine what will be done,” he stated. 

“We’re at the doorstep of Victory,” ASUU President tells Members

Recall that the ASUU president last week told its members that they (the entire union) are at the doorstep of victory.

The Union National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke said this to their members in their Strike Bulletin No 6, released on the 16th June 2022.

In the bulletin, the president praised the members for keeping faith with the union despite the hardship the strike has brought on them.

He went further to narrate that it was because of the strong will that the government had five meetings with them, adding that the renogotiation of the 2009 agreements has reached its advanced stage.

Read the Bulletin below:

ASUU strike unnecessary ― JAMB registrar

The Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, has described the ongoing industrial strike action by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as unnecessary.

Professor Oloyede said this when the university admission regulatory agency presented multi-billion naira medical equipment to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) for improved health care delivery in the country, in collaboration with a US-based agency, Project Cure.

The JAMB registrar, who said that incessant strike action by unions in the nation’s tertiary institution was capable of causing irreparable damage to not just the students but also the nation, urged both the government and the unions to find ways of putting an end to the “unnecessary strike action.”

READ ALSO: They Don’t Have Power To Suspends Our Strike, We’re not Resuming – ASUU Tackles Edo Government

CREDIT: ALLSCHOOL, Vanguard