The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has announced the suspension of its two-week warning strike. The union recently gave the Federal Government a one-month window to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and tackle other unresolved issues affecting Nigeria’s university system.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja, the President of the union, Prof. Chris Piwuna, revealed that the suspension happened after positive engagements with the Federal Government and key interventions from the National Assembly.
According to him, following the commencement of the strike, FG re-engaged the union through a team led by Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, which met with ASUU representatives on October 16 and 18, to discuss the government’s response to the draft renegotiated agreement.
He stated that even though the meetings did not fully resolve all issues, the union recognised that significant progress had been made compared to the pre-strike period.
“When we gathered here about 10 days ago to painfully declare a warning strike, it was a decision that left us with no other choice.
The government had ignored our repeated overtures to address issues critical to the survival of Nigeria’s public universities.
We have not achieved all our objectives, but we are certainly not where we were before the strike began.
This shows that had the government responded earlier, there would have been no need for the action,” he said.
Piwuna further commended the Senate Committees on Tertiary Education and TETFund, and Labour, as well as the Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, for their key intervention during the crisis.
He concluded by warning that should the government fail to resolve the outstanding issues within the one-month window, the union would be left with no option but to resume strike action without further notice.
“While noting that more work remains to be done, NEC resolved to suspend the warning strike to allow for a conducive atmosphere for further engagement.
The struggle continues,” he added.
