All Striking Unions but ASUU Accepted To Suspend Strike Next Week, says FG, ASUU Gives their Reason

Federal Government, through its Education Minister, said all striking unions but ASUU, have accepted to end their strike by next week. ASUU has come out to explain why their meeting ended in deadlock.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, in a statement at the Weekly Briefing organized by the Presidential Communications Team, has said ASUU is the only Varsity union that refused to end its strike next week, Vanguard reports.

According to him, ASUU is insisting that FG pay them the salaries for the 6months they have been on strike.

An action the Minister said FG will never take, adding that they made the decision to punish ASUU for embarking on strike.

The Minister believes aside from the fact that by law, they are not required to pay ASUU for work they didn’t do, this will also help reduce the incessant strikes by varsity unions.

The Minister said: ”If you think it is for the government other than what the government is doing in the university to stop strike, the standard government has taken now is not to pay the months in which no work was done.

”I think this is the only thing that is in the hands of government to ensure that there is penalty for some behaviour like this.

”So, I believe teachers will think twice before they join strike if they know that at the end they are not going to be paid and the federal government is not acting arbitrarily.

”Before, it was some magnanimity on its part, there is a law which says if there is no work, there will be no pay.

”I believe this will be a very strong element that will be determining from going on strike,” he said.

Adamu also expressed the hope that all other unions like Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SANNU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions, (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) will resume work in the next one week.

However, in a statement signed by the ASUU President, Prof Osodeke, the Union said their meeting ended because FG gave them an award salary in a manner of take-it-or-leave-it, in ordinary sheet of paper.

The statement titled “Why ASUU Rejects Governments Award of Salary”, released on August 18th 2022, had ASUU accusing FG of imposing and encouraging the ongoing strike.

The three images below shows the full press release by ASUU.