There has been a rumor that on ASUU latest news on strike update that they will soon call off the ongoing strike that has caused students to be at home since November last year. Sadly, the hope of many Nigerian university students to resume academic activities soon may have been dashed as the news is believed to be a rumor because the outcome of ASUU meeting today proves they are yet to come to terms with the Nigerian government.
ASUU Strike Update 2019 {ASUU Latest News}
Strike Called Off
On 07/02/2019 leaders and authorities of the Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) stroke a peg to the strike that has been going on for over 3months now.
This action came shortly after the leaders of the union held an NEC meeting immediately they had a conciliatory meeting with the Federal Government in Abuja.
The Federal Government was duly represented by t Chris Ngige the Federal Minister for Labor and Employment, and at the side of the ASUU and on behalf of all lecturers in Universities across the nation, was represented by Biodun Ogunyemi the President of ASUU.
According to the report made available by the federal Minister of Labor and Employment Chris Ngige, he said, Federal Government and ASUU have reached a consensus on the pending eight issues that have been the brook storming and prolonging the strike that was embarked on by the academic staffs.
It is worth to note that ASUU commenced their no to work approach which is otherwise known as Strike on the 4th day of November 2018, and all things been equal and all agreement and atonement made to the union the Union will Resume work today which is the 8th day of February 2019.
All members if the union has been intimated about the new agreement and the leadership of ASUU reiterated if in anyway Federal Government failed to implement all the reached agreements and consensus the union will not hesitate to embark on another strike until the goal driving the union is achieved.
This was made known to the Federal Government because of such actions that have taken place before and the union has always been boycotted, a case example is the 2017 strike that the federal government promised to fulfill their arguments but failed to which was part of what causes current strike embarked on by the union.
However, there has been hoped that has been restored to the faces of every individuals and student who has been sent home without doing anything and many more who have been on a break in consequence of the industrial strike embarked on by this Union.
ASUU had embarked on a total and indefinite strike on 4th November 2018, to demand improved funding for universities and at the same time, the implementation of previous agreements entered with the government.
Some of the demands as contained in ASUU’s list of grievances, including the implementation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU; 2012 and 2013) and Memorandum of Action (MoA, 2017) and the truncation of the renegotiation of the union’s agreements too.
ASUU said its ongoing strike is targeted at compelling the federal government to make funds available for the revitalization of public universities based on the agreement contained in the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013 and the MoA of 2017, and the release of the operational license of the Nigerian University Employees Pension Company (NUPEMCO). It is ok this note that we’ll be writing on ASUU Strike Update giving you all ASUU Latest News, this page will be updated frequently and all you need to know.
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ASUU met with the Federal Government officials including the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, including the Minister of Labor and Employment, Chris Ngige on Tuesday.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected advances made to it earlier this week by the Nigerian government. More so, ASUU has vowed that the ongoing strike would not be terminated until the Federal Government fulfills their end of the agreement that was reached by both parties in their last meeting.
The lecturers insisted that the ongoing strike would be suspended only if they have tangible evidence and concrete actions that the offers made to them by the Federal Government had been implemented.
Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, the National President of ASUU, disclosed on Thursday in an interview with reporters in Lagos.
He was asked when the strike would be called off? The President of ASUUreplied, “Our union members said they want to see evidence of satisfactory implementation of all the government proposed before the strike can be called off.”
On Tuesday that’s 8th January, ASUU met with the Federal Government officials including the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, as well as his Labour and Employment counterpart, Chris Ngige.
According to Mr.Chris Ngige, he said that the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Ministry of Finance presented evidence that N15.4 billion had been released to public universities.
He further said President MuhammaduBuhari approved N20 billion to offset arrears of the 2009 to 2012 verified earnings by university teachers when asked earned academic allowances,
Biodun Ogunyemi, the ASUU President in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES early Saturday morning, said upon reviewing the offers made by the government, members of the union across various campuses and zones were not pleased and rejected it.
Mr. Ogunyemi, said members are insisting that government should release at least a tranche of N220 billion spread over four quarters of 2019 and described government’s offer on the outstanding revitalization fund of N1.1 trillion as tokenism,
He further added that on earned allowances, government’s proposal should not be lesser than the total amount released “the last time” out of the verified balance.
He then recalled that as part of the agreement reached between the union and the federal government before ASUU ended the strike that occurred in September 2017, the Federal Government released a total N22.9 billion for earned allowances of both academic and non-academic staff across the 22 Federal universities in Nigeria.
Of the amount, academics under ASUU got N18.3billion, while non-teaching staff belonging to the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian University (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) got N4.6 billion.
The sharing formula, which was condemned by the three non-academic staff unions, had led to pockets of protests across various campuses at the time, and eventually compelled the unions to embark on prolonged strike.
Apparently, to avoid the controversy that greeted the sharing of the allowance in 2017, ASUU is insisting that the Federal Government should categorically state the amount earmarked for its members, which it said must not be lesser than N18.3 billion it received then.
Mr. Ogunyemi (ASUU president) said; “Our members have rejected tokenism with respect to outstanding revitalization fund of N1.1 trillion. They are insisting that government should release at least one tranche of N220 billion spread over four quarters of 2019.
The two critical areas on which our members feel strongly about are “the revitalization fund and earned academic allowances. The union members are expecting necessary adjustments on the part of government before their decision to end the on ongoing strike action can be reconsidered.”
Meanwhile, ASUU president continued, “As for the proposal, it can be can be paid in parts or disaggregated.
The major emphasis is about action, the government should take action and not just set up a committee. He then said “there are items in the proposal that require implementation. If the government is setting up a committee on state universities and which they did, they should try and implement their agreement.
“If those items will he implement, they will be crossed off the list. Even if the government decides they will pay a shortfall of salaries on a particular date, and the date comes and the money is released, it is also an implementation. There is no agreement on the matter.
“Concerning the revitalization fund presented to the government that five tranches of N220bn each were outstanding. The government has said nothing as to when it will release one, even if the payment will be spread over a period of one year. There has been no agreement on that. And what the government is offering is not even up to one tranche.
“Last year, the government promised to give the fund but they faulted on their promise till November when the strike began. To cut the long story short, the union members are saying they are tired of promises, what they want to see is action, an implementation which is the disbursement of funds. The government must act in a way to convince the union that agreement has not been sidelined, they should release one tranche.”
He explained further that in order to intercept and stop the situation, ASUU and the government would restart negotiations on arrears of earned academic allowances, both ASUU and government agreed during negotiations that “the fund would be mainstreamed into the 2019 budget.
“A discussion on when to commence renegotiation will occur because there are still grey areas yet to be discussed. We will be more confident to face our members on the way forward if the government can substantially address these issues. But for now, from the look of things and the feedback we are getting is that our members do not actually want to accept this government proposal from us.
“The government agreed that they would pay the shortfall of salary arrears of what was removed from workers’ salaries. There are 20 universities identified to have experienced this issue. The money is said to be made available by January 18, 2019. The date is around the corner and we are anticipating to see if it will come.”
But, for the time been, one of the major issues that are still dragging the negotiations to and fro is the revitalization of the universities.
As on Saturday morning, the government was yet to release the agreed N1.1 trillion out of the N1.3 trillion to provide for the exercise
It was stipulated in the 2013 MoU that public universities needed N1.3 trillion for a modest revitalization. It was agreed that the fund was to be paid in tranches of N200billion in 2013, N220billion in 2014, N220billion in 2015, 220billion in 2016, N220billion in 2017 and N220billion in 2018.
ASUU President said “I don’t believe any Nigerian will believe and agree that the government does not have money for what they see as a priority. This is the standpoint we keep pointing out and telling them that overnight they brought out N800 billion to bail out what they now call Polaris Bank. They knew where they went to, when they had a problem with the subsidy,” so they cannot keep telling us there is no money, he said.
He was asked when the union would again meet the government to reopen negotiation, Mr.Ogunyemi said the union was still consulting to fix an appropriate date. He said vividly that “I am not to determine whether we are resuming or not. The union members will determine that and we will meet with them,” he said.
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Conclusion On ASSU Latest News On ASUU Strike Update On Meeting Out Come
Based on the latest news on ASUU strike, its still ongoing and they are still negotiating with the government to come to an agreed term. This is important because students are tired of gracing their couch or aimlessly wandering around. Please let the strike end soon. – {Bookmark this page for updated information on meeting outcomes and latest update}
Tag: Out Come Of Meeting On ASUU Strike Update –{ASUU Latest News} All U Need To Know
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