The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has stated that a strike is not imminent if the Federal Government fulfills the agreements made within the next two weeks.
ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, mentioned this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday.
Previously, ASUU had threatened to go on strike due to the Federal Government’s failure to implement agreed-upon terms.
On June 26, the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, invited the union for a meeting to discuss the ongoing issues affecting universities and to prevent the planned strike.
Osodeke emphasized that none of the agreements made with the Federal Government have been executed.
“At the meeting called by the Minister of Education, we agreed that after two weeks, we will meet to see the progress the government has made.
“We will also see what we will do next, if government fail to implement the agreements reached.
“The meeting in the next two weeks is to see what they have done which will inform our decision,” he said.
The ASUU president pointed out that some demands, such as the non-implementation of the 2009 renegotiated agreements, have been pending for over six years.
He noted that academic allowances for their members have also accumulated for over six years without any action taken.
Regarding the revitalization fund, he mentioned that they had agreed on the NEEDs Assessment Report to allocate N200 billion yearly for five years.
“Since 2013, only one has been paid. We need revitalisation fund to upgrade our universities to standard, so that we can be having students and lecturers from outside the country,” he said.
Osodeke added that the government has yet to stop the proliferation of universities, approving many new ones without providing funds to operate them.
He also stated that the government has not removed university salary payments from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) as approved by the Federal Executive Council in January.
He highlighted that their members are still being paid through IPPIS despite the directive by the FEC. (NAN)
