ASUU Dares FG, Vows to Continue Strike

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The Senate has pledged to engage relevant stakeholders to avert the warning strike planned by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

ASUU had on Monday announced plans to embark on a one-week warning strike over the inability of government to implement agreements reached with it since 2009.

The move by the Senate to intervene in the matter followed a motion moved by Senator Jibrin Barau (APC-Kano North) under matters of urgent national importance.

The President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, urged the chamber to intervene and ensure that the eight–year agreement was fully implemented.
“We must find a way of seeing to the implementation and we will look into the matter quickly.

“We will also get the relevant parties to quickly come to the table so that we can find a way of moving forward and report back to us,” he said.
In his motion, Barau, who is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TetFund, urged government to implement all agreements.
He urged government to as well carry out certain actions that were necessary for the wellbeing of the development of public universities.

The lawmaker, however, hailed ASUU for choosing the path of dialogue rather than confrontation as a means of resolving the outstanding issues between it and the Federal Government.

In his contribution, Senator Danjuma Goje (APC-Gombe Central) noted that the history of strike was a recurring decimal.

“It is a disturbing issue to parents and students. There is need to nip it in the bud. We should not allow it to escalate,” Goje said.
He said the motion was apt and called on the Senate to engage the leadership of ASUU to suspend its planned warning strike.

The Majority Leader, Senator Mohammed Ndume, described the Senate as a stabilising agent and called for the immediate intervention of the Senate leadership in the matter.

But ASUU said the warning strike scheduled to begin today would go ahead despite the Senate’s intervention.
Its National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, told The Nation on phone that there was no way the union could suspend the planned action until after its meeting with the leadership of the Senate.

He said: “They have invited us for a meeting tomorrow (today) and we are going to meet with them. It is only after the meeting that we will call our own meeting and take a position.

“So, for now, the action will commence as planned. When we get to the Senate, we will address the issue. That is the position for now.”
The union, had at a news conference asked its members nationwide to embark on a one-week warning strike from today to protest the failure of government to implement the 2009 agreement with the union.