ASUU Strike: FG Is Yet To Respond, 48 Hours After Deadline 

Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the National President of the Academic Staff Organization of Universities, ASUU, has stated that 48 hours after the expiration of the deadline provided to the Federal Government, the union has not received any communication from the government.

In an interview with the Vanguard on Thursday, the ASUU president also stated that the union would decide on its next course of action.

Ososeke said, “We are yet to get any response from the government. This is two days after the deadline we gave them. We are still consulting and we are going to come out with our decision after the necessary meetings are held.”

Osodeke, on the other hand, declined to say when the union’s national leadership would convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC).

A meeting of the NEC is expected to take place this weekend, according to sources, because some stakeholders believe the government is still capable of paying the N40 billion revitalization fund, which the government claims have become stuck at the CBN.

Prof. Moyosore Ajao, a member of the NEC who also serves as the Branch Chairman of the University of Ilorin, UNILORIN, slammed the assertion, accusing the government of needlessly shifting the responsibility.

He said, “The CBN, the Ministry of Education are government agencies and how long would it take them to get the money paid? We suspended our strike on December 23 last year and almost nine months after nothing has been done.

“I hope they are not saying that it is ASUU members that would go to the CBN and twist their arms to get the money paid. It all boils down to the poor attention we give to education in the country.”

Beyond the revitalization fund, the government is supposed to deliver the Earned Academic Allowances and put the renegotiated deal with ASUU into effect.