Finally, ASUU Agrees to Call Off Strike, Gives Two Major Conditions
- ASUU has finally agreed to call off its long strike action but reiterated that it will only happen if the federal government meets two major demands
- The president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke said the only reason why the strike will be called off is if the federal agrees to the UTAS payment platform and concur with the 2009 treaty
- He, however, stated that the agitation against the government was in the best interest of Nigerian students
FCT, Abuja - The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said it is ready to call off the over three-month-old strike if only certain conditions are met by the federal government, the Guardian newspaper reported.
As gathered by Legit.ng, the leadership of ASUU said the conditions to be met include the federal government accepting the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) payment platform and also concurring with the 2009 agreement.
Source: Twitter
This was made known by the national president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osedeke on Monday, July 4 during an interview on Channels TV.
He said:
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“Let government tell us they have finished testing the UTAS and sign the agreement, then tomorrow we will call off the strike.
“We challenge the government, when would they sign the agreement? When would they accept UTAS? These are the two questions we should ask the Nigerian government.”
"We're simply fighting for students", says ASUU
According to Prof. Osedeke, ASUU’s agitation is in the best interest of Nigerian students in other to ensure they have a conducive and enabling environment for learning.
While speaking on the program, the ASUU president made reference to neighbouring countries like Ghana as well as South Africa whom he said had a better educational system than Nigeria.
He however reiterated that if an agreement is reached and stipulations are signed, ASUU will call off the strike.
Prior to the latest development, ASUU has been in a heated battle with federal government for its refusal to honour the 2009 agreement it entered with the union.
The agreement contains a series of demands with one of them being the preferred use of the UTAS payment platform instead of the federal government recommended IPPIS.
Others include review of salary, allowances, rehabilitation of infrastructure and other facilities in universities and a host of others.
Buhari to give final resolution on ASUU strike, UTAS, says Ngige
Meanwhile, the minister for labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige has revealed that decisions on will soon be made on the UTAS payment platform.
According to Ngige, President Muhammadu Buhari will issue a directive in light of the issue and as well as increment of salary for lecturers.
Ngige made this known via a statement on Sunday, June 26 stating that the inter-ministerial departments and agencies committees of the federal government would in turn in their reports on Wednesday, June 29 to help in the decision of the president.
FG moves to end ASUU strike with payment of n34bn minimum wage arrears
Similarly, reports have it that the federal government is on the verge of coughing out N34bn for payment of arrears for workers.
Chris Ngige who made the disclosure on Tuesday noted that the payment is not meant for ASUU alone but would also include academic staff members of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education.
Source: Legit.ng
