Nigerian govt to address ASUU’s basic demands next week – Finance minister

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said on Thursday the Federal Government would address the basic demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) next week.

Ahmed disclosed this at a meeting convened by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, between the government and the union.

ASUU had last week given the federal government a 21-day ultimatum to honour agreements signed by both parties last year.

The union had demanded the release of N30 billion as part of the first tranche of the Universities Revitalisation Fund.

ASUU also demanded the release of N22.12 billion which is to be paid to its members as earned allowances.

The union also insisted on the implementation of University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS) and a re-negotiation of the 2009 agreement between the union and the federal government.

In her address at the meeting, the minister said the processing of the union’s demands had commenced and assured that the funds would be paid before the end of next week.

She said the efficiency of UTAS was still being verified by the relevant agencies and would be implemented when the process is completed.

Ahmed also revealed that the process for the commencement of the re-negotiations of the 2009 agreement between the federal government and ASUU had started.

READ ALSO: Reps call for immediate action as ASUU, others issue strike ultimatums

Gbajabiamila said he called the meeting so that the issues of strike would be addressed once and for all.

The speaker said the consequences of interrupting the education process were enormous and the unintended consequences even more deadly.

He said: “We cannot sit here as leaders and watch things fall apart; education is very important and no amount of money put into it is too much.

“This cannot be a perennial exercise, strike cannot be a tool we use all the time. It should be the last resort after all other efforts have failed.

“We need to resolve this issue once and for all.”

The ASUU President, Prof. Victor Emmanuel, said that the union had given the government a three-week ultimatum after which it would commence the strike.

The chairman said he would convey the information to the members of the union and bring back their response to the speaker.

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