Federal Government, ASUU Reach Agreement To Avert Strike, Resolve Issues Amicably

The federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) reached an agreement to resolve all issues peacefully to avoid a strike, after a closed-door meeting held on Wednesday in Abuja.

Both parties also agreed to start a communication process to prevent the union's planned industrial actions. The meeting lasted over two hours in attendance of the two education ministers -- Tahir Mamman and Yusuf Sununu -- alongside other senior officials from the ministry.

"We have discussions on all the issues, and we have given assignments to some people to look at and agree on the way forward," ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke told journalists after the meeting, Premium Times reported.

"What is important is that we have started the process and our prayers are that we resolve it for the interest of our young men and the interest of the nation. The government has spent one year in office and we have not been called for any formal meeting."

Osodeke stressed that this was the first formal meeting they had held with the federal government, adding that the process has been started and soon, they will be setting deadlines.

Mamman, on the other hand, said that the meeting was "good and very productive."

"We've discussed progress on how to ensure that the system works well and lots of the issues we talked about are those that we inherited and some ongoing. We discussed them all without exception, and we have a consensus on the way forward," the minister said.

He emphasized that ongoing consultations would address information gaps beyond the ministry's scope, which require to collaboration with colleagues in other ministries.

The minister highlighted the positive outcome of the meeting and the commitment to continue consultations aimed at resolving challenges affecting education in Nigeria.

ASUU had warned the government that it might go on strike nationwide because the government hadn't met its demands. The union gave the government two weeks to address issues like leaving the IPPIS system, renegotiating an agreement from 2009, paying overdue allowances and settling unpaid salaries.

Earlier this year, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities had threatened to protest if the withheld salaries of its members are not paid.