The Federal Government (FG) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) concluded their closed-door meeting on Wednesday with an agreement to resolve all contentious issues amicably to prevent a strike.
Both parties agreed to initiate a communication process to avert the planned industrial action by the union.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the closed-door meeting began at approximately 4:30 PM at the Ministry of Education’s headquarters in Abuja. The meeting, which lasted over two hours, included the two Ministers overseeing Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman and Dr. Yusuf Sununu, along with other top ministry officials.
ASUU President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who led the union’s delegation, informed reporters after the meeting that negotiations had begun and expressed hope that the federal government would follow through on the agreements made.
“We discussed all the issues and have assigned tasks to some individuals to determine the way forward,” he said.
Regarding the two-week ultimatum issued by the union, Osodeke mentioned they would brief their members on the meeting’s details.
“What is important is that we have started the process, and our prayer is that we resolve it in the interest of our young people and the nation.
“The government has been in office for one year, and this is our first formal meeting. We have started the process, and we will set deadlines to review progress on these issues,” he added.
Prof. Mamman stated that consultations would begin immediately to address the problems affecting education.
“We’ve had a very good and productive meeting. We discussed progress on ensuring the system works well, including ongoing issues we inherited.
“We reached a consensus on the way forward. Further consultations will continue on some information beyond the ministry’s scope, requiring collaboration with colleagues in other ministries.
“The most important outcome is that we had a very good meeting and agreed to continue consultations to overcome the problems bedevilling education in Nigeria,” he said.
ASUU had previously threatened a nationwide strike over the federal government’s failure to meet its demands, giving the government a two-week deadline to address all outstanding issues.
Key issues include removal from IPPIS, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, payment of the backlog of Earned Academic Allowances, and settlement of all outstanding salaries, among others.
