FG, ASUU to meet Monday over strike notice

The Federal Government has scheduled a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) leadership for Monday to address the union’s grievances and the strike notice.

Tribune Online reports that ASUU had given the government a 21-day strike notice on Wednesday, calling on the President Bola Tinubu administration to resolve lingering issues affecting Nigerian universities.

The union’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, made the announcement at a press briefing held at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State.

In a response to the notice, The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman announced on a TVC program on Thursday that government officials would meet with ASUU leaders on Monday to discuss the union’s demands.

He confirmed that the government had reviewed ASUU’s letter and was prepared to address all outstanding issues.

“We have already sent out notice to the leadership of ASUU for us to meet on Monday.

“On Wednesday, we (government side) reviewed the letter submitted by ASUU and all the issues which are listed in the letter. It is our hope that by Monday we will meet to discuss them.

“Some of the issues are historic in nature; when you talk about the 2009 agreement. This is something that dates back to almost 1981 when they started.

“We have been having a series of conversations with the leadership of ASUU on the issues affecting the university system so that we can, together, address all their concerns”, he said.