ASUU Strike: Lecturers walked out of meeting with FG; strike continues

Image: Timeline NG

The Tuesday meeting between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities did not end well, as lecturers staged a walk-out.

According to our source, the PUNCH, while speaking with some sources regarding the issue, said that the meeting was held at the headquarters of the National Universities Commission, and the two parties were ably represented.

A top ASUU official said, “The meet with the FG’s team was headed by Professor Nimi Briggs, and it started by 12:00pm and ended by 3:00pm. There was no new offer on the table, they simply begged us to call off the strike.”

Another source, a top ministry official confirmed, “The lecturers left angrily, though we cannot really ascertain what was discussed with them as you can see, we were not invited, but the proposal presented was rejected.”

Also confirming the development, a member of the ASUU National Executive Committee who pleaded anonymity explained to our source’s correspondent that the government was “unserious” with the negotiations.

“They are not serious. I can’t go over the details with you because the president is responsible for disseminating the information. The proposal presented was unreasonable. There is no hope in sight”.

Ben Goong, the spokesperson for the ministry of education, told our source that the minister of education would brief the press on Thursday.

However, when contacted for details regarding the meeting, the president of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, said he would revert when he was done with the other meeting he was in. Moreover, Tuesday night, he later granted an interview to one of our source’s correspondents, saying, ‘‘It wasn’t good,” referring to the meeting.

“We didn’t sign anything; they did not come with anything good. I can’t go into details. We will talk to our members first before we talk to the press. We represent our members.’’

We shall avail you more details as we have them. Recall that the strike started on Monday, February 14, 2022, following the failure of the government to meet some of the lingering demands of the union.

Source: punchng.com

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