ASUU Faults Education Minister Over Fresh Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has blamed the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, for the breakdown in negotiations that led to its ongoing strike, warning that the union would not be intimidated by the government’s threats or divisive tactics.

ASUU President, Professor Chris Piwuna, made the remarks on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday while reacting to the Minister’s claim that the Federal Government had met all of ASUU’s demands and that the union was being difficult to reach.

Piwuna described the statement as “untrue and misleading,” insisting that both lecturers and students were victims of the government’s failure to act decisively on issues affecting public universities.

“Students and lecturers are victims of government inaction. We called the minister a week before the ultimatum expired, asking him to convene a meeting so we could review the documents they said were ready. He refused,” Piwuna said.

According to him, the government only sent incomplete and erroneous documents on the final day of the union’s 14-day ultimatum, a delay he blamed squarely on the Education Minister saying it is solely responsible for the current situation.

He also revealed that at the last negotiation chaired by Senator Yaya Abdullahi, major federal agencies, including the Ministries of Education and Labour, the Office of the Accountant General, and the Head of Service, were absent. A sign, he said, shows the government’s lack of seriousness.

Piwuna accused the minister of abandoning the document earlier submitted for review and introducing new ideas midway through negotiations, effectively restarting discussions from scratch.

“That’s not how negotiations are done,” he said.

Despite the impasse, the ASUU president said the union remained open to dialogue and had received calls from top government officials willing to reopen discussions.

“Today, I received a call from the Minister of State for Labour. She said she has been directed to intervene and get this matter resolved. ASUU is willing, ready and available to discuss this matter once and for all,” he noted.

Reacting to the Federal Government’s insistence on enforcing the No Work, No Pay policy, Piwuna declared that the union would not be bullied into submission.

THE WHISTLER reports that earlier, the government had directed the implementation of a No Work, No Pay policy for lecturers participating in the ongoing warning strike.

“We don’t respond to threats, and nobody can threaten us. The minister is writing to NAMDA and CONUA, telling them they can get their salaries. He wants to divide us, but we are united in this matter,” he said.

He stressed that all tertiary education unions remained solidly behind ASUU, listing the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) as part of the collective front.

Piwuna then issued a stern warning to the Minister of Education, saying his attempts to divide the academic community would fail.

“He has got something coming. He had better sit down and solve this problem, or he will fail in trying to divide us,” he warned.

The ASUU leader urged the Federal Government to act swiftly in the interest of students whose education has been disrupted once again, emphasising that dialogue, not threats, remains the only solution.

“For the sake of the students, let the Federal Government come to reason. Let’s sit down and resolve this,” he appealed.

The ongoing strike, declared last week, is the latest in ASUU’s long-running disputes with the Federal Government over the implementation of their seven point demands which includes the 2009 agreement, withheld salaries, earned allowances, funding for public universities and more.

Piwuna maintained that the union’s demands were not merely about wages but about safeguarding the future of Nigeria’s public universities and ensuring quality education for students.

ASUU Faults Education Minister Over Fresh Strike is first published on The Whistler Newspaper