ASUU Moves To Call Off Strike

The leadership of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may have come under severe pressure to call off the five month old industrial action embarked upon its the members.
The Tide at the University of Port Harcourt yesterday gathered that some lecturers said the union leadership should appreciate the direct intervention of President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the Federal Government’s offer of N220bn to fund  federal universities.
In an interview, a senior lecturer in the Political Science Department of the university who pleaded anonymity said that he was  optimistic that ASUU would shift ground to call off the industrial action.
He said the federal government should be more honest with its commitment to adequately fund the federal universities.
The lecturer said ASUU expected the federal government to properly implement the 2009 agreement, the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and the Report of the Needs Assessment Committee led by the Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswan.
He reiterated that ASUU in the overall interest of students, parents and other stakeholders in the education sector should  to call off the industrial action to allow students return to their respective campuses.
However as at the time of going to press, ASUU leadership and Negotiating Team were meeting with the National Executive Council (NEC) to review the federal government offers.
The Tide gathered that ASUU Chairman  UNIPORT had travelled to Ibadan for the NEC meeting.
It would be recalled that ASUU embarked on strike on July 1 over alleged government failure to implement an agreement reached with the union in 2009 for improved funding, for infrastructure development in the universities and payment of lecturers’ earned allowance.