Concerned by the need to maintain the academic calendar, the Federal Government has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to suspend its planned nationwide strike over the poor welfare system for lecturers across the country.
The apex government assured the aggrieved lecturers that efforts were underway to address their concerns on welfare.
According to the government, the reconstituted Yayale Ahmed Expanded Negotiation Committee will meet with the aggrieved unions soon to resolve lingering issues.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who made this known at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, stated that President Bola Tinubu has directed that every effort be made to avert the planned industrial action.
He revealed that People at the highest levels of government have been working several hours intensely to get a robust but affordable response back to our trade unions, adding that the issues at stake have existed for 10 to 15 years, but the President has given the political will to resolve them once and for all.
The minister stated that the government has already addressed most of the issues raised by ASUU, on which their proposed strike is anchored.
It would be recalled that ASUU issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its seven-point demands or face industrial action.
The lecturers’ decision was reached at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on September 28 at the University of Abuja.
The union’s demands include the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding and revitalization of universities, an end to the victimization of ASUU members at Lagos State University (LASU), Kogi State University (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).
