After five months and 10 days that the public
universities have been on strike, the Federal
Government and the Academic Staff Union of
Universities on Wednesday finally signed a fresh
agreement.
The fresh pact is the review of the Federal
Government/ASUU 2012 Memorandum of
Understanding reached on the 2009 agreement.
Both parties, however, refused to reveal the details
of the agreement to journalists who witnessed the
signing of the agreement.
The meeting was almost boycotted by the union
until the intervention of stakeholders.
ASUU had on Tuesday vowed not to attend the
meeting because there was no commitment and
proper invitation from the government.
The union had demanded for proof of the payment
of the N200bn into a Central Bank of Nigeria
account for public universities, non-victimisation
clause, review of the agreement in 2014 and that a
representative of government, preferably the
Attorney-General of the Federation to sign the
agreement as conditions to call off the strike which
began on July 1.
Our correspondent, however, gathered that the
union got three of its demands while it relinquished
one to the government.
The Federal Government agreed to present
evidence of payment, implement the non-
victimisation clause and that the agreement was
open to re-negotiation in 2014.
But it was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry
of Education, MacJohn Nwaobiala, who signed the
agreement on behalf of the government contrary to
the demand of the union.
ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Faggae, signed on
behalf of the union while the President of the
Nigeria Labour Congress, Abdulwaheed Omar,
signed as a witness to the agreement.
The Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom
Wike, who presided over the meeting, said there
was “no victor no vanquished” in the dispute.
He said the Federal Government was alive to its
responsibility to restore normalcy to the university
system.
Wike argued that government only directed the
vice-chancellors of federal universities to
immediately reopen the universities for academic
activities pending when other minor discrepancies
would be sorted out.
“Today, I am very pleased to announce that all
contending issues between ASUU and the Federal
Government have been resolved to the satisfaction
of the parties.
“Let me emphasise that we recognise and
appreciate ASUU’s patriotic role and commitment
towards ensuring that our universities are well-
funded, resourced and run like their counterparts
in other parts of the world.
“Thus, we are all partners in progress and there is
no victor; no vanquished in the struggle of this
nature for as long as our goals remain noble, not
actuated by parochial interests, but targeted at
moving our nation forward.”
The minister on behalf of President Goodluck
Jonathan thanked Nigerians, the National
Assembly, the labour unions, traditional rulers,
parents and students for showing understanding.
In his response, Faggae commended the President
for his intervention in the dispute.
He, however, stressed that the strike could not
have lingered if government had agreed to
document the agreement reached with the union.
“If what we have agreed with Mr. President at that
13-hour meeting had been judiciously documented
and our members were convinced that it was going
to be implemented, we wouldn’t have waited this
while because we also have a lot of respect for the
office of Mr. President and that of the Vice-
President.
“But you see our members are intellectuals, I keep
saying this. It is simply because over the years
particularly since the signing of the 2009
agreement we have been pursuing government to
get that agreement implemented.
“We rarely succeeded in getting a portion of that
agreement implemented by the government. Here
we are, we have gone for about four years but it is
never too late to turn a new page and make sure
we do what is right with our universities.”
Faggae said the country must place high premium
on education if it hoped to catch up with developed
world.
Faggae who said the decision to call-off the strike
lied with the National Executive Council of the
union, promised that the message would be
delivered within one week for a final decision on
the strike.
“We would now take this document to our
members and we are confident that our members
will do the appropriate thing.
“It was a sacrifice that was worth taking to ensure
that we do what is right for our country,” he added.
In an interview, Faggae said ASUU would make its
position known to government “within one week.”