Finally, ASUU suspends 6-week strike

• FG, varsity lecturers sign agreement
• Suspension is conditional, ASUU insists

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, on Monday night suspended its six-weeks old strike.

The suspension is, however, a conditional one, as the Universities lecturers vowed to resume the strike by October if the federal government failed to honour the agreement reached between the parties.

The ASUU has, in the light of the conditional agreement, directed their members to resume in their classes today for academic exercise.
The suspension of the strike by ASUU, which had kept the millions of universities’ students at home for weeks, was sequel to the agreement reached between the lecturers and federal government.

Lecturers in the nation’s universities had embarked upon the strike to press home some demands which included the insistence of the teachers that government must honour an earlier agreement.

The ASUU members are specifically pushing for the implementation of the agreements reached between them and the federal government under the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2009 and that of the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in 2013.

Some of the demands by then ASUU included the payment of grants for revitalization of the universities, payment of arrears as well as research grants to professors and the removal of TSA payment system in the universities among others.

Briefing journalists at about 9.30pm after yesterday’s meeting between ASUU and the federal government, which lasted for over four hours, the Minister of Labour and employment, Senator Chris Ngige, announced that most of the grey areas of dispute have been ironed out.

The Minister said, ” We have all signed the document and it is the document distilled right from 17th August and we agree on many issues. And like I told ASUU, this is a government of change and as we all know, the government is presently financially constrained with limited resources and operates mono economy.

“So government will implement gradually what it said and will do more when the economy improves”.

Ngige, however, said that there are few encumbrances over the salary shotfalls, adding that the ASUU has agreed with the government that TSA should continue to be in operation.

Idu Jude and Samiat Oduwole Abuja