- ‘Intervention Came Too Late’ – ASUU Rejects FG’s Last-Minute Appeal
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Piwuna accuses the Education Ministry of neglecting urgent communication.
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Union insists strike will begin unless tangible progress is made by Sunday.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has faulted the Federal Government’s last-minute efforts to stop its proposed warning strike, describing the intervention as “a little too late.”
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EKO HOT BLOG reports that ASUU President, Professor Chris Piwuna, stated this on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, where he accused the government of failing to show seriousness in addressing the union’s long-standing demands.
“The problem we have with this government and the Ministry of Education is that they are slow in responding to our demands,” Piwuna said.
He explained that ASUU had given the government a three-week deadline after a meeting in Sokoto, but received no response or communication until the ultimatum expired.
“We went for a meeting in Sokoto when we were about to embark on a strike action. They gave us three weeks, we accepted, but we never heard a word from them until the three weeks elapsed — not even a courtesy call to say, ‘Gentlemen, we are running short, we can’t meet yet.’ Nothing, until we threatened to act,” he said.
According to Piwuna, it was only two working days before the planned strike that the government reached out to appeal for restraint.
“Yesterday, they appealed to us not to embark on action. Our 2009 agreement, which has been under renegotiation for eight years, is still not concluded. And two working days before a strike, you come to appeal to us — the appeal has come a little too late,” the ASUU President said.
He added that unless the Federal Government presents concrete proposals before Sunday, the union would proceed with its planned warning strike.
“Their ultimatum expires on Sunday, and after that, there will be a warning strike unless something substantial comes out from the government. So, in the next 48 hours, we expect to receive something tangible. Then, we’ll consult our members and act based on their decision,” Piwuna warned.
ASUU had earlier directed all its branches nationwide to prepare for a two-week warning strike set to begin on October 13.
The ongoing dispute between the union and the government revolves around unresolved issues such as university funding, lecturers’ welfare, and the long-pending 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said on Wednesday that the government was in the final stage of negotiations with ASUU and other university-based unions to end the recurring crisis in the tertiary education sector.
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