PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will meet the leadership
of the Academic Staff Union of Universities on Monday
(today), apparently with a view to resolve the Federal
Government-ASUU face-off that has left varsity gates
shut since July 1.
But the union said it had got wind of Presidency’s plan to
direct that universities be reopened, saying such directive
without amicable resolution of the current strike would
deepen the crisis.
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Chairman of ASUU, University of Uyo chapter, Dr.
Nwachukwu Anyim, said this in a statement in Uyo, Akwa
Ibom State, on Sunday, saying that the union leaders
were invited by the President.
Anyim said the invitation by Jonathan should ordinarily
inspired hopes that the four-month-old strike by the
lectures would soon end but that the union needed to be
cautious in its optimism.
His statement read, “We are aware that President
Jonathan intends to meet with the leadership of ASUU
tomorrow, Monday, November 4, 2013, in a bid to
address the deadlock in the ongoing strike by the
members of the union.
“Ordinarily, the invitation by the President to the union
would give the impression that the resolution of the strike
was on the horizon. While we appreciate the present show
of concern from the high office of the Presidency, we are,
however, cautious in our optimism that the meeting
between the President of the country and the union would
yield desired results.
“The apparent lack of enthusiasm among our members
concerning the outcome of the meeting is based on
government’s lack of commitment towards the
implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and
the memorandum signed with ASUU. While we hope that
the Federal Government would see reason to finally
resolve the issues in contention, we urge well -meaning
Nigerians and stakeholders to persuade government to
implement the agreement with the union in order to save
Nigeria’s public universities.”
It added, “We have received information that President
Jonathan intends to direct that universities should be re-
opened immediately. As a branch, we do not think that
such a directive would resolve the issues at stake. Rather,
such a directive would deepen the prevailing crisis. A
show of force by the president could only, at best, result
in a “pyrrhic victory.”
“We stand on the existing agreement between the union
and the Federal Government. The MoU between
government and ASUU and also the NEEDS Assessment
Report should provide the road map for the resolution of
the ongoing strike by ASUU.”
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