DONE DEAL! President Jonathan shares
handshake, smile with ASUU delegation
Yes! Pack your bags!
A source close to top guns in the
Academic Staff Union Of Universities
(ASUU) has told The City Reporters the
lecturers will ditch their four month old
strike this weekend so students could
resume on November 18 (next Monday).
The source said there was no way the union
could reject the new offer of N220bn a year
tabled by President Goodluck Jonathan
during a marathon meeting with ASUU last
week Tuesday.
ASUU had come out of that meeting to tell
Nigerians it needed time to deliberate on
the new deal and reach a consensus among
it members before talking to the press.
A top official of the union, has however
said the government could not be trusted
even on the new offer, and that ASUU’s
members were divided over the
government’s offer. He, however raised a
beam of hope by saying the majority still
decided to give the government the benefit
of the doubt.
As ASUU executives meet this Wednesday, if
the fate of the strike is down to a vote
among the striking lecturers, as suggested
by ASUU chairman, Nasir Fagge, the four
month old impasse may surely end this
week.
ASUU went on strike July 1 over the non-
implementation of a 2009 agreement it had
with the government with a key component
of the memorandum of understanding the
allocation of 26% of Nigeria’s total budget
to education.
Although the government is planning to
allocate just 9% of the 2014 budget to
education, ASUU now seems set to end the
strike after government offers that would
surely boost lecturers’ take home pay and
improve varsity infrastructure.
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