The Academic Staff Union of Universities is set
to convene its National Executive Committee this weekend to discuss the offer
made to the union by the Federal Government to develop public universities, it
was learnt on Wednesday.
ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Faggae after a meeting
with President Goodluck Jonathan which ended in the early hours of Tuesday had
told reporters that the union would take back an undisclosed message to the
striking lecturers.
The Federal Government had offered to inject
N1.1tn into public universities in the next five years.
The Punch gathered that the union had
concluded arrangement to hold the meeting to collate the views of members
before a final decision would be taken on whether to accept or reject the
offer.
Usually, the decision to embark on or to call off
strike is taken at the union’s NEC meeting.
It was gathered that the meeting might hold any
day between now and next week Friday.
In the hierarchy of ASUU, the zonal coordinators
after a meeting of the national officers are to brief the branch chairmen who
would consequently call for congress in their respective universities.
But a source who spoke on condition of anonymity
said a meeting with the zonal coordinators usually take place two days after a
major meeting with the Federal Government because they have to come from the
nine zones of the country.
He said, “There is a national strike coordinating
committee comprising the national principal officers and the zonal coordinators
which is the highest decision-making body. In the country, we have nine zones.
After the meeting, the zonal coordinators will brief the branch chairmen who
will now call for a congress to brief all members.”
Asked if the strike would be called off soon, the
source replied, “It is not a decision that could be taken in a hurry. All
members must be carried along. We have a mandate which is very clear – that is
the implementation of the 2009 agreement. Anything other than that, they will
have to relate to members. The zonal coordinators will collate the decision of
the branches and forward them to the national officers.”
A chairman of a local branch of ASUU in a
university in the South-West confided in one of our correspondents that the
date for the NEC meeting would be communicated to all the chapters on Thursday
(today).
Another source said, “Before we embarked on the
strike, there was a referendum. The referendum did not emanate from the
principal officers but from the branches. Members must be briefed before any
final decision could be taken.”
Meanwhile, strong indications emerged on
Wednesday that ASUU may soon call off its four-month old strike as the Nigeria
Labour Congress described the meeting between President Jonathan and the
leadership of the union as the most meaningful since 2009.
The Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Mr.
Chris Uyot, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on
Wednesday, urged ASUU to explain to its members the offer the Federal
Government had made to the striking lecturers in order to arrive at the next
line of action.
According to him, since ASUU is an affiliate of
the NLC, it is the responsibility of the union to decide on whether to call off
the strike or not in accordance with standard labour procedure.
He said, “We simply advise that they carry out
meaningful consultation with their members and ensure that whatever was offered
was explained in totality to members of ASUU.
“I want to say that since the agreement of 2009
was signed, and of the various negotiations that have taken place, this was the
most meaningful of the meetings.
“All discussions were taken aside and the issues
in the 2009 agreement were examined, discussed and analyzed in totality.
“Let the ASUU explain in totality the offer that
was made to its members. Even the NLC has to explain to the members of the
National Executive Council of the Congress before taking decisions in such
matters. I can only say that calling off the strike depends on ASUU,” he added.
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