FG appeals to ASUU to suspend planned strike

FG appeals to ASUU to suspend planned strike

The Federal Government has urged members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to suspend their planned strike, assuring that it is committed to addressing all outstanding issues in a comprehensive and holistic manner.

Minister of Education, Dr. Olatunji Alausa, made the appeal in Abuja during a press briefing held ahead of the meeting of the high-level committee on the proposed 2025 FGN/ASUU agreement on Wednesday.

Alausa said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that the ASUU proposed strike be averted, affirming the commitment and political will of the President to resolve all the contending issues that would be mutually acceptable and respectful to all the staff unions.

He said there was no basis for ASUU or any other staff unions in territory institutions to embark on industrial action, stressing that the directive of the President is clear, “strike must be averted for Nigerian children to be in school”.

Recall that ASUU, last week, issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet its demands or face industrial action.

The decision was reached at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on September 28 at the University of Abuja.

Some of the demands of ASUU include the re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, sustainable funding and revitalisation of universities, an end to the victimisation of ASUU members at Lagos State University (LASU), Kogi State University (now Prince Abubakar Audu University), and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), among others.

The Minister noted that the meeting on the ASUU proposed strike was a technical working group to finalise components of the condition of service for university workers and a counteroffer to ASUU.

He disclosed that by tomorrow (Thursday), the Yayale Ahmed-led Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiating Committee would meet with the leadership of ASUU to present the government’s offer to them.

He revealed that the committee has reached out to ASUU and other unions in tertiary institutions to start giving dates and times when they will meet.

“The directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to us is that our children must be in school; that we should do everything humanly possible to avert a strike. That’s why what we’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure a holistic resolution of the issues. We’ve not been talking about everything we’re doing.

“People at the highest level of government have been working several hours intensely to get a robust but affordable response back to our trade unions. These are issues that predate 10-15 years ago. They’ve not been surmounted, but this President has given us the political will to resolve these issues once and for all.

“In the past, things were done in silos. There were three different Negotiating Committees that were set up. One for universities, one for polytechnics and one for the College of Education and those committees worked in silos. That’s not an efficient way to negotiate.

Despite the slight delay that we’ve had in putting the Expanded Committee together, we now have one Negotiating Committee that will talk with all tertiary institutions. That same committee will negotiate with academic staff and non-academic staff unions so that they can have a full grasp of what their needs are.

“I have seen all the requests from all these unions at the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education; 80% of those requests are about the same, while the 20% of the requests are based on particular needs of the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education,” Alausa said.

Alausa disclosed that the expanded negotiation committee was inaugurated on Monday and that the members held their inaugural meeting on Tuesday.

He added that the committee would work continuously and expeditiously to come up with a clean copy of agreements that the government would sign with the various unions.

He asked ASUU and all the staff unions not to use strike as the first resort, even though they have been patient over time, stressing that the contending issues have been ongoing for about two decades.

He emphasised that the President has given all the political will to resolve the problem once and for all.

“And as I’ve said repeatedly, we will resolve it in a holistic, comprehensive manner that is mutually respectful to the unions in an affordable manner. Something the government can afford,” he said.

The Minister stated that the government has already begun implementing some of the lecturers’ and other staff unions’ demands, noting that President Tinubu’s administration recently released ₦50 billion for the payment of Earned Academic Allowances.

He further disclosed that ₦150 billion has been earmarked in the 2025 budget as a revitalisation fund for tertiary institutions, while outstanding promotion arrears will be addressed in the 2026 budget.