Education Minister Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa said yesterday that all is being done to keep tertiary institutions running.
According to him, a holistic negotiation with various unions is ongoing and it is needless going on strike during the talks.
He urged the unions that have served strike notice to shelve their plan.
Dr. Alausa said government was making concerted efforts to meet the demands of the unions to prevent disruption in academic activities.
But he insisted that government would not rush into any agreement that has not been properly negotiated.
Alausa, who spoke with The Nation last night, pleaded with the unions to be patient as government makes attempt to address the contentious issues.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU); Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) have issued strike notices over unmet demands.
On August 14, ASUP President, Shammah Kpanja, told reporters after a National Executive Committee meeting of the union in Abuja, that the association would proceed on strike after 21 days over unresolved issues.
The ASUP ultimatum expired last night.
Also, during its 77th General Executive Council meeting in Kano State, SSANIP also served government a 21-day notice, starting from August 27
ASUU had embarked on a one – day nationwide protest on August 26 to draw the attention of the government to its demands.
Its President, Christopher Piwuna, said yesterday that the branch chairmen, who have met, would communicate the outcome of the meeting to their members.
He added that the union would make its decision known to Nigerians after the branch meetings.
Kpanja said the union leadership had met with Federal Government representatives to iron out the issues.
He said five meetings have been scheduled with government officials, adding that the outcome of the meetings would determine the next line of action.
However, Alausa urged the unions to shelve the strike as the government is working to address their demands.
The minister said: “I have met with them and assured them that the government is working to meet their commitment. They have given us proposals and we are working to put the Federal Government’s responses back. Whatever we do, we have to do it holistically in a way it will accommodate the interest of ASUU, ASUP and COEASU.
“Things have been done in a disjointed manner before with parallel negotiations, but they are all in the academic sector. They all asked for the same thing. They asked for NEEDS Assessment; condition of service; 2025 wage balance; it is all the same. We have to be sure that we are talking to everybody together.
“I have just expanded Yayale Ahmed committee to include all the various unions so that one person is dealing with them. We will deal with this in a way that has not been done before; in a holistic manner, to accommodate people in our tertiary institutions.
“We will try as much as possible to meet what they want. We know they need more money but there is so much money that government has to give. We also have other competing needs but we will do everything with all honesty, all truthfulness and with mutual respect to everybody. These things take time and we are trying to work as fast as possible but it has to be something that government can afford.
“Everybody knows President Bola Tinubu. When he makes promises, he fulfills them. We are not a government that, for the sake of averting strike, give bogus agreement to these unions.
“The president has given me a mandate and that is what I will do in a way that we are all truthful and we get to the bottom of it once and for all.”
Alausa added: “Mr president has said he wants our children to be in school. I want our children to be in school. The academic and non academic unions I believe are on the same page to keep our children in school.
“These are problems that have gone on for at least,16 years. We have met a lot of the low hanging things we could meet. I have done that. This condition of service we are working along with it and we are keeping all the various unions updated on what the government is doing.
“This is a government that believes in communication and we are communicating with them. There is no reason for any strike to happen because government is working and I am meeting with the unions. They have easy access to me. Since I became a minister, I have met with academic unions more than any group.
“They should give us time to get this problem resolved once and for all. I don’t want whoever that is going to come after us – many years from now – to face this same problem. We have to resolve it once and for all and that is what we are determined to do. We cannot rush these things.”
Thenation
