ASUU STRIKE & FG Resume Talks on Monday, 21st Jan (Read Outcome of Meeting)

ASUU STRIKE: FG & ASUU to Resume Talks on Monday, 21st Jan. Read the Outcome of the Meeting below.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Federal Government (FG) will resume talks today, Monday 21st January 2019.

The meeting is coming after the union requested FG to pay at least 50 billion naira to show commitment. This again has raised the hopes of Nigerian Students as they hope the strike will be called off after today’s meeting.

THE MEETING IS OVER. SEE OUTCOME BELOW:

The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Monday said that it would continue with the ongoing strike unless the Federal Government satisfied their demand on the revitalization.

Speaking after the rescheduled meeting with the FG at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment which lasted about four hours, ASUU president, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, told reporters that the meeting ended with grey areas to be resolved.

He said, “We have not suspended the strike, the discussion will continue at a later date. We are going back to our members for further consultation. FG gave us reaction to our proposals but there were still grey areas that we are trying to sort out.

“Before the strike can be suspended, the most critical area that FG must address is revitalization. It is central to our academic work, unless that area is addressed, our members will still have issues. We are not demanding for N50bn, we are saying that the minimum that FG can release to reactivate revitalization fund is N50bn.”

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, however said that the FG and made substantial commitment to ASUU demands and would meet the leadership again when they were ready. He added that although he had expected a marathon session with ASUU because President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered him to ensure that all issues relating to the strike were resolved, the meeting ended early.

He said, “We did not take a long time than we anticipated. We have other commitments but the important thing is that we have made substantial progress. We have reached some agreements in seven areas. Most of the issues have been resolved but ASUU will need to consult its members and come with what they think.