Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu has said the
strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff
Union of Universities may end this week.
The minister disclosed this during a briefing with
reporters on the proliferation of illegal institutions
in the country, at the weekend in Abuja.
The ASUU have been on strike since November
4th, 2018.
Malam Adamu said: “Perhaps by next week I
hope the ASUU strike will be over.â€
But when contacted, the ASUU President, Biodun
Ogunyemi, in a text message, said the union was
still consulting on whether to end the strike or
not.
According to him, the union wants to take stock
of what government have promised.
He said: “All I can say, for now, is that we are
still consulting. We need to take stock of
government’s promises in terms of aspects that
have been fulfilled and what is left.
“The feedback and assessment of our members
will guide our response in subsequent
engagements with government. We hope the
expectations of our membership would be met in
the new week.
On whether the universities have accessed the
N15.89 billion released by the federal government,
he said: “We are cross-checking with the
concerned universities. Until we confirm that all
the universities have received the money, I cannot
confirm.
“And please note that ASUU does not collect
money from government, financial releases are
made directly to universities. That’s why we need
confirmation.â€
The government has been meeting the university
lecturers since the strike began.
However, one major issue that keeps dragging the
negotiations back and forth is the revitalisation of
universities.
At present, the government is yet to release the
N1.1 trillion it agreed to release as part of the
funds for the revitalization project.
The 2013 MoU stipulated that public universities
needed N1.3 trillion for a modest revitalisation.
The fund was to be released in tranches of
N200billion in 2013, N220billion 2014, N220billion
2015, 220billion in 2016, N220billion in 2017 and
N220billion in 2018.
Although the previous government of Goodluck
Jonathan released N200 billion in 2013 nothing
has been released since then.
source: thenationonlineng.net/asuu-strike-may-end-week-minister/