The Federal Government has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to shelve its planned strike, assuring the union of its commitment to addressing all outstanding demands.
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The plea was made on Wednesday in Abuja by the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa, during a briefing with journalists on the progress of ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and university-based unions.
Dr. Alausa disclosed that the Mahmud Yayale Ahmed Federal Government Tertiary Institutions Expanded Negotiation Committee has been reconstituted and inaugurated. This committee is tasked with fast-tracking talks with both academic and non-academic unions across universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
The Minister emphasized that President Bola Tinubu has issued clear directives to ensure all efforts are made to prevent another disruption in the nation’s tertiary institutions. He noted that, unlike past practices where separate committees handled negotiations for different tertiary subsectors, the government has now adopted a unified approach to enhance efficiency and coherence in the negotiation process.
According to Dr. Alausa, approximately 80 per cent of the unions’ requests are similar across the tertiary subsectors, with the remaining 20 per cent pertaining to peculiar career and institutional needs. He assured that discussions on the new conditions of service, which he described as the final component of the ongoing negotiation process, would soon be concluded.
The appeal comes as ASUU has already commenced full mobilisation of its members in preparation for a possible nationwide warning strike, ahead of its 14-day ultimatum set to expire this Sunday.
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