An
end appears to be in sight to the nationwide strike by the Academic
Staff Union of Universities as parties involved in the dispute are said
to have reached understanding.
A
source in the Ministry of Education told our correspondent in Abuja on
Wednesday that the Federal Government was putting finishing touches to
meeting some of the “reasonable” demands of ASUU.
The
source, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to
the media on the issue, noted that government was determined to end
the deadlock within a “week or two.”
He
explained that most of the issues would have been resolved before now
but for the nationwide strike embarked by Labour and civil society
groups over the removal of fuel subsidy.
He
said “On our part, we have been working round the clock to end the
strike, which we are hopeful will end within a week or two at the most.
“I
can confirm to you that government has already agreed to meet some of
the reasonable demands of ASUU like the reconstitution of boards and
councils and the issue of the legal framework regarding the retirement age of Professors and the like. We are making reasonable progress.”
National
President of ASUU, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, in a separate telephone
interview with our correspondent in Abuja, confirmed that progress was
being made.
He explained that discussions started before the nationwide strike began.
According to him, the leadership of ASUU has met with government at the ministerial level as well as at the level of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
He said, “Some understanding has been reached. Every party is interested in ending the dispute and we are working towards achieving this.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment