The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has said 48 hours after the expiration of the ultimatum given the Federal Government, the union is yet to be contacted by the government.
Speaking in a chat with the Vanguard on Thursday, the union leader also said ASUU would soon take a decision on the next line of action. “We are yet to get any response from the government. This is two days after the deadline we gave them. We are still consulting and we are going to come out with our decision after the necessary meetings are held,” he said
Osodeke, however, refused to disclose when the national leadership of the union would call a National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting. It was gathered that the NEC meeting would hold this weekend, as some stakeholders feel the government can still pay the N40 billion revitalisation fund, which the government claims is trapped at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Faulting the claim, a member of NEC, who is also the University of Ilorin, UNILORIN, Branch Chairman, Prof. Moyosore Ajao, accused the government of needlessly passing the buck. “The CBN, the Ministry of Education are government agencies and how long would it take them to get the money paid? We suspended our strike on December 23 last year and almost nine months after nothing has been done.
“I hope they are not saying that it is ASUU members that would go to the CBN and twist their arms to get the money paid. It all boils down to the poor attention we give to education in the country,” he said.
Apart from the revitalization fund, the government is expected to mainstream the Earned Academic Allowances and implement the renegotiated agreement with ASUU.
