ASUU Strike: Two weeks is too long for Resolution – Osodeke

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the two-week ultimatum given by the President to the minister of education to resolve the concerns raised by the union is too much.

ASUU Chairman, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja while playing guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

For the lecturers, it will not take more than two days to address the issues that have plunged the nation’s public university system into a prolonged strike in its fifth month.

“Two weeks is too long,” he said. “The issue of renegotiation has been completed by both sides. Just come back to us and say ‘we have agreed’, that will not take two days. We were told they spent billions feeding children in school; is that correct? How many children have you seen being fed?

“Nigerians spend not less than N200 billion as school fees paid to Ghanaian universities every year. Government should prioritise education as number one in the country because all of us must pass through school.”

A few hours before Osodeke’s interview, President Muhammadu Buhari met with the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, and other pertinent cabinet members to obtain an update on the ongoing dispute between the government and university labour unions notably ASUU.

He gave the education minister instructions to present a plan of action for the lecturers’ ongoing strike and to follow up with him in two weeks.

In order to hasten the resolution of the situation, President Buhari also gave instructions to the present Chris Ngige, Minister of Labor and Employment, and Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to attend all meetings.

The President of ASUU believes that while the President’s decision is a great step, delivering such a direction is nothing new.

He argues that the administration is still not taking the university lecturers’ ongoing strike seriously and that the problems can be resolved in a shorter amount of time.

Professor Osodeke remembered the interfaith delegation that met with the President to discuss the problem under the aegis of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC).

After the meeting in February, he clarified that President Buhari appointed a three-person committee, made up of his chief of staff, Ngige, and Adamu, to address the problem within a month swiftly.

“That committee didn’t invite us for a meeting until we rolled over the strike in May, and we all went. Now another 12 days? If we are serious, if we want to resolve this problem, it will not take two days.

“All issues have been discussed, government representatives have met with ASUU, and there is a draft joint agreement to look at and come back for the signature. Does it take you two weeks to look at what you have negotiated?” the ASUU president queried.