Come Saturday May 14, it will be exactly three months since the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called its members out of their duty posts, and there are no signs that they will be resuming soon.
The union had on February 14 commenced a four-week industrial action before announcing a roll-over on March 14 for another two months.
On Friday, the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige, said his team would meet the union’s representatives next week to continue the dialogue.
But on Saturday, ASUU president, Emmanuel Osodeke, told PREMIUM TIMES that his union was yet to receive an invite for any meeting.
Osodeke also discountenanced the possibility of a suspension of the industrial action soon, saying the union does not speculate but acts based on “facts available on the ground.”
Lingering crisis:
ASUU has consistently demanded improved welfare for its members through the renegotiation of its agreement entered with the government in 2009, as well as the immediate deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in replacement of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) as payment platform for its members.
ASUU is also kicking against the proliferation of state-owned universities and demanded a review of the law governing the establishment of universities.
Apart from ASUU, other university-based workers’ unions are currently on strike for similar demands.
The unions, which are categorised as non-academic staff are the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).
(Credit, excluding headline, Premium Times)
