Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU is set to hold an important meeting with Federal government through the Ministry of Labour and Employment, in Abuja on Thursday over the strike in public universities since November 5.
The Punch confirmed on Wednesday’s that the Federal Government delegation led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, would meet with ASUU executives led by the National President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, in Abuja to review the September 2017 Memorandum of Action.
ASUU said during its National Executive Council meeting in Akure, Ondo State, on November 4 that it asked its members to resume strike because of certain unimplemented areas in the 2017 MoA, which suggested the Federal Government’s insincerity to the demands by the lecturers.
He said,
“Yes, the government wrote us on Tuesday, inviting us to a meeting on Thursday.”
A top ASUU member, who does not want his name in print, added that the meeting would focus on reviewing the 2017 Memorandum of Action and renegotiating the unimplemented areas.
He said,
“We guess that, apart from the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s delegation, there will also be representatives from the Ministry of Education at the meeting. You know what the labour ministry always says is that they are mediators. They bring the parties together to facilitate the resolutions of the crisis.
“The meeting will look at all the issues we have raised, both in the memorandum and even in the media.”
The Punch obtained a copy of the 2017 Memorandum of Action, which will be reviewed by the two parties and the memorandum highlighted the seven-point issues in dispute.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Federal Government Implementation Committee of the FG/ASUU agreement, Dr Wale Babalakin, has said ASUU must come to the negotiating table for permanent solutions to the issues, based on verifiable data.
Babalakin, while speaking in an interview, said the team remained committed to resolving the recurrent disputes militating against the progress of the tertiary education sector.
He said, “Information available is that the government manages to pay the salaries and sometimes the basic overheads of federal universities.”
