Representatives of the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are currently engaged in a closed-door meeting to address ongoing issues and prevent a potential strike by the union.
The meeting, which began around 4:30 pm, is being held at the office of the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman. The Federal Government’s team includes the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Yusuf Sununu, and other top officials from the Ministry.
ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, leading the union’s delegation, informed the press that the meeting aims to discuss and resolve persistent issues affecting universities to avoid the planned strike. “There are a lot of issues that are outstanding within the system, and we believe that before now, they would have been taken care of. The issues should have been resolved in line with the promise made by President Bola Tinubu that there will not be a strike in the university system. We hope this meeting will resolve some of these issues so that we can move forward as a country as well as our university system,” Osodeke stated.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Mamman, highlighted that the meeting provides an opportunity for both parties to discuss the matters impacting the university system. He mentioned that ASUU had previously written to the Ministry, outlining various issues and concerns that necessitate interaction between the union and government officials to possibly prevent the proposed strike.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the meeting was still ongoing at the time of reporting.
ASUU has threatened to initiate a nationwide strike due to the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands, giving the government a two-week ultimatum to address these issues.
