President Bola Tinubu’s administration had pledged to resolve its dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) within three weeks, a deadline that expires next week, SaharaReporters has learnt.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the union, already threatening fresh strike action, is holding back for now in anticipation of the government’s promised intervention.
“The Nigerian government promised that within three weeks, which expires next week, the issues raised by the ASUU will be resolved,” a source in the union told SaharaReporters.
However, findings by SaharaReporters reveal that, as of the time of filing this report, the government has made no move to reach out.
“We are fervently waiting on their response and promised resolution, although as of now, we have yet to get a positive reaction,” another source told SaharaReporters.
SaharaReporters on Wednesday reported that ASUU had warned Nigerians to brace for another round of paralysis in the nation’s universities, stressing that the Nigerian government must be held accountable for any looming crisis.
The Benin Zone of ASUU issued the warning earlier in September during a press conference at Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba, Delta State.
Speaking on behalf of union leaders in the zone, Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Monday Igbafen, said Nigerian academics remain the most marginalised group in the country despite their crucial role in national development.
“We want to tell Nigerians not to hold ASUU responsible, but hold the Federal Government responsible for the paralysis that will be done to Nigerian universities in the coming days to come,” Igbafen declared.
The Benin Zone comprises the University of Benin; Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma; Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko; Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa; Delta State University, Abraka; Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun; University of Delta, Agbor; Dennis Osadebay University, Asaba; and Southern Delta University, Ozoro.
According to Igbafen, the government’s insincerity and refusal to honour agreements reached with the union have left lecturers with no option but to consider shutting down the system again.
“Since the suspension of our last strike action in October 2022, the Federal Government has yet to make good its promise to actualise the review of our dismal conditions of service,” he said/
“It is yet to sign the draft renegotiated 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, which our Union views as a significant milestone in the resolution of the issues at hand.”
He added that the government’s failure to pay arrears of promotion entitlements, its refusal to release withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries and third-party deductions, as well as the continued neglect of adequate funding for education, had deepened the frustration of lecturers across the country.