Nationwide strike is imminent as the meeting between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government ended in a deadlock on Tuesday.
This was as both parties could not reach an agreement that will lead to the suspension of the six-month-old strike by the public university lecturers.
Some weeks ago, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had embarked on a three-day warning strike, pledging to go on full-blown strike if Federal Government fails to meet the ASUU’s demands.
Read also
- ASUU Prolongs Strike By Four Weeks
- ASUU Strike: NLC plans three-day warning strike
- ASUU/FG Imbroglio: NLC to begin three-day warning strike
The striking lecturers met with the Minister of Education and Chairman of the re-negotiation Committee, Professor Nimi Briggs committee in Abuja, with the hope of resolving the impasse that led to the ongoing strike.
A senior member of ASUU, who pleaded anonymity told the media that members of the Professor Briggs renegotiation committee, did not come with any new offer to the table, other than to plead with the lecturers to suspend the ongoing strike, with promises that their concerns will be included in the 2023 budget.
ASUU has been on strike since February 14 this year, over issues surrounding the lack of funding for public universities, disagreement over salaries payment platforms, and unpaid earned allowances, as contained in the agreement with the federal government in 2009.
Efforts to renegotiate these agreements, and end incessant strikes in public universities, started in 2017 when the federal government inaugurated a committee headed by Chief Wale Babalakin, which was later replaced by Professor Munzali Jibril in 2020, but the exercise was halted by the outbreak of COVID-19.
Professor Nimi Briggs took over the renegotiation in May 2021 and has since then not been able to reach any tangible agreement with the universities’ unions, a development that has grounded government-owned universities since February 14 this year.
Nigeria may face blackout
The country may face a nationwide blackout on Wednesday, August 17 as the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) accuses the government of failing to address staff welfare issues.
Converging at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) headquarters in Abuja early Tuesday, NUEE in a notice signed by the general secretary, Joe Ajaero, urged its members to comply with the directive and stop work from August 17.
The strike is bound to worsen Nigeria’s electricity problems.
The union issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of TCN on May 18, threatening to down tools if its complaints were not resolved.
Among other complaints, the group has raised concerns over the failure of the authorities to pay entitlements of former staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in December 2019.
