ASUU Meeting With FG Concludes Unresolved, Strike Continues 

184 days have passed since the beginning of the industrial action by ASUU, which began on February 14.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

The federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) leadership met on August 16, 2022, but no agreement was reached.

As a result, the public university professors’ six-month-old strike is expected to continue.

With high hopes of breaking the deadlock, the academics met with the Professor Nimi Briggs Committee at the National University Commission (NUC) in Abuja.

Members of the Briggs renegotiation committee didn’t present any new offers, a senior ASUU member told Channels Television.

He claims that the committee begged the academics to call off their protest, promising to address their issues in the 2023 budget.

Around 12 o’clock, the meeting got underway, and it lasted for roughly three hours.

Since the start of the industrial action on February 14, ASUU has remained on strike for 184 days.

The Federal government was required by the ASUU-signed agreement from 2009 to commit N200 billion annually for five years to the sector’s revitalization. The union now asks that the government honor that commitment. The Federal Government will have to fork up N1 trillion to meet this portion of the ASUU demand.

The union also claimed that, as promised, the government had neglected to provide earned academic allowances in the budget for 2022.

Festus Keyamo, the minister of state for labor and employment, claimed that the federal government lacked the resources necessary to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), which is now on strike.

Because the federal government will not borrow money to meet the demands of the professors, Mr. Keyamo, who was recently named the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaigns, pleaded with parents to persuade ASUU members to return to class.