THE Federal Government may have
reopened dialogue with the leadership
of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU), in a bid to end
the over two months old strike.
This came just as the National
Association of Nigerians Students
(NANS) urged both government and
ASUU to return back to the
negotiation table, with each party
willing to shift ground from their
previous positions.
Indications to the new development
with ASUU emerged on Monday,
when journalists were called to cover
the meeting, which was eventually
postponed till next week, with a
ministry official saying this was to
allow the supervising Minister of
Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, get
proper briefing on the current
standpoint of the issues involved.
Wike was joined by the Minister of
Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka
Wogu, for the meeting scheduled for
12 noon at the Federal Ministry of
Education conference room before it
was called off.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that the
resumption of talks followed the exit
of the former Minister of Education,
Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i,
who was dropped last week by
President Goodluck Jonathan
alongside eight other ministers.
The negotiation between the
government and leadership of ASUU
broke down over disagreement on
payment of academic earned
allowance to union members.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian students,
under the auspices of NANS, have
called on both the Federal
Government and ASUU to return back
to the negotiation table, in order to
resolve their differences in good faith.
Acting Senate president of NANS, John
Shima, while addressing newsmen in
Abuja, lauded the sack of Professor
Rufa’i and other ministers, as part of
the initiatives of President Jonathan
to retool the government.
“ASUU and Federal Government
should go back to the negotiating
table. Even after wars, issues are
resolved at the roundtable. Nigerian
students have been idle for 78 days.
“Nigerian students are tired of sitting
at home. Both parties are urged to
shift ground to ensure quick
resolution of the crisis.
“We lost almost three years of study
time in the last 10 years due to
strikes; the lost time being enough to
graduate a student in Germany,”
Shima said.
Meanwhile, Benue State governor, Mr
Gabriel Suswam, has vowed to get
tough on striking lecturers of Benue
State University, Makurdi, by evoking
“no work, no pay” policy if they
refuse to call off what he described as
their “sympathy strike,” which had
paralysed academic activities in the
state.
Suswam said state-owned universities
like that of Benue had no reason
whatsoever to remain on strike, since
it was federal universities and not
states that were earlier involved in
the negotiation with the Federal
Government.
Suswam explained that Benue State
University had been benefiting fully
from the earned allowance for which
the Federal Government voted N30
billion and had no cause to be
complaining.
The governor, while addressing
communicant members of the
Reformed Church of Christ in Nigeria,
at Achusa village, Makurdi, at the
weekend, decried the extent to which
the strike had gone and admonished
the authorities of the institution to
expedite action towards suspending
the protracted strike for students to
resume in the next one week.
He condemned the level of
dilapidated infrastructure in most
state-owned universities, including
Benue State University, but applauded
the Federal Government for the
release of N100 billion to assuage the
problem.
Benue State University, the governor
said, got N950 million for the
execution of six projects within the
institution, while he expressed
optimism that the funds would be
judiciously used for the growth of the
university.

ASUU STRIKE CALLED OFF!
Congratulations to all University Students..

(.Page 52 Vanguard Newspaper of August 1989)....

I just love reading OLD Newspapers!

There s alreadi one on Fp