AS UU’s decision
followed a reconciliation meeting with a Federal Government team which
held Monday)in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
President of the
union, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, who made the announcement, explained that the
suspension was conditional, as it depends on whether the Federal Government
would fufil its parts of the agreements.
Today’s dialogue
came after about two weeks following the union’s consultations with its various
chapters on the terms of agreement earlier reached by both parties. ASUU had
been on strike since August 14, over unpaid arrears and demands for improved
infrastructure in the universities. A reconciliation meeting with the Federal
Government on August 17 had failed to resolve the dispute, but fresh
undisclosed offers were made to the lecturers.
Another
reconciliation meeting held on August 29 also ended in deadlock, as ASUU
insisted on seeing the government act on their demands. A third meeting, which
held on September 7 and concluded the following day, however, ended with
agreements reached on some of the demands of the union. During the meeting, the
Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had offered assurances of
government’s commitment to immediately commence the payment of salary
shortfalls and funding for universities’ infrastructure. Professor Ogunyemi had
also said the striking lectures were willing to take the final decision on the
industrial action once they resolve the “contentious issues”.
Some of the key
outstanding issues raised by ASUU were the payment of fractions/ non-payment of
salaries; non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA); non-release of
operational license of NUPEMCO and the
non-implementation of the provisions of the 2014 Pension Reform Act with
respect to retired professors and their salaries. Others include the removal of
Universal Staff Schools from funding by government; funds for the
revitalisation of Public Universities (Implementation of Needs Assessment
Report), as well as the poor funding of existing State Universities and
proliferation of universities by their visitors among other issues.
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