ASUU LEADERS: REASON WHY THE STRIKE HAS NOT BEEN SUSPENDED

The Academic Staff Union of Universities President Biodun Ogunyemi gives reason why the strike has not been suspended as promise.

The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been inundated with enquiries on why the ongoing strike action has not been suspended. This was sequel to the widely reported claims by some government agents that all the demands of ASUU have been met and that the union agreed to suspend the strike action today, 9th December, 2020. Nothing can be farther from the truth!

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To put the records straight, the Principal Officers and Trustees who constitute the core of representatives of ASUU at negotiation meetings with government are not constitutionally empowered to suspend any strike action. Whatever comes out of an engagement with agents of the government is an offer which must be taken back to the branches through the various organs of the union. Views and perspectives on offers by governments are aggregated and presented to government agents as counter-offers. This trade union strategy of offer and counter-offer is continually deployed until the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU -consisting of all recognized chairpersons – finally approves what it considers an acceptable offer from the government. It is only then that any strike action by ASUU can be suspended.

At our last meeting in the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment on 27th November, 2020, the ASUU leadership promised to faithfully present the latest government offer to its members through the established tradition. The latest offer by government makes proposals on nearly all items of demand by the union with timelines. Among others, the document which was signed by the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, contains proposals on inauguration of the reconstituted FGN-ASUU Renegotiation Committee (1st December, 2020); release of details about Visitation Panels (1st December, 2020); working on the actualisation of the release of the withheld salaries of ASUU members (Wednesday, 9th December, 2020). Clause 9 on the document reads: “Based on these conclusions reached on items 1-8, ASUU’s leadership will consult its organs with a view to suspending the on-going strike” (Italics, for emphasis).