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.
PUNCH
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