ASUU Strike Lingers On After One week As Govt Is Yet To Invite Lecturers For Negotiations

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the federal government is yet to begin any dialogue with the union over the ongoing strike.

The national president of the union, Biodun Ogunyemi, said this in a phone interview with PREMIUM TIMES Sunday evening.
The union embarked on strike one week ago over the poor funding of Nigerian universities and an alleged plan by the federal government to increase student’s fees and introduce an education bank. The union also accuses the federal government of not implementing a 2017 agreement.

The union leader said ASUU has not seen any invitation from government to discuss the strike.
“They know how to reach us. That’s not how we’ve been communicating,” Mr Ogunyemi said of an appeal by the education minister last week that the strike be suspended to allow for negotiations. “There are two issues that we’ve raised. But by his own attitude and actions, it was obvious to that he didn’t want that. That was why we said we have seen enough.
“Our members remain resolute and report we are getting from branches indicate that our members are determined. Government cannot continue to handle education with levity which is the focus for the development of any country" he said.
Mr Ogunyemi said the strike has so far been successful across campuses but for few vice chancellors.
“We have report of one or two crisis where the vice chancellors are trying to give us problems. Like Adekunle Ajasin University, the VC threatened to sack our members and we tried to tell him to go ask from history,” he said.
Efforts to get the education and labour ministries to speak on why no negotiation has started since the strike begun were unsuccessful.

However, earlier last week, the education minister, Adamu Adamu, urged the union to exercise restraint in its demands.
The minister said the demands of the union dated back to 2009 during the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, when Nigeria had not yet entered into a recession