By Bayo Wahab
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Federal Government of being too slow in responding to its long-standing demands, even as the union’s 14-day ultimatum to avert a nationwide warning strike expires on Sunday.
President Bola Tinubu has reportedly directed that all necessary steps be taken to prevent another disruption in the nation’s tertiary institutions as ASUU’s ultimatum draws to a close.
But ASUU President, Chris Piwuna, during an interview on Channels Television’s Morning Brief, on Thursday, maintained that the government’s last-minute appeal to stop the planned action came “a little too late.”
“The problem we have with this government and the leadership in the Ministry of Education is that they are slow. They are slow in responding to our demands,” Piwuna said.
According to him, despite several meetings and letters exchanged between the union and the education ministry, the government failed to act within the agreed timeline.
“They gave us three weeks. We went for a meeting in Sokoto, and at that time, we were about to embark on the strike action. They gave us three weeks. We accepted the three weeks. We never heard a word from them until the three weeks elapsed,” he explained.
Piwuna said the government only reached out when ASUU threatened to begin industrial action, adding that the lack of timely engagement has become a recurring challenge.
“Not a word from them, courtesy to even say, ‘gentlemen, we think we’re running short, we are unable to meet with you on so-so date,’ nothing — until we threatened action. And yesterday, they are appealing to us not to embark on an action,” he said.
The ASUU president also lamented that the 2009 agreement between the union and the Federal Government, which has been under renegotiation for eight years, remains unresolved.
“Our 2009 agreement that is being renegotiated is still undone. We have not concluded on it. And two days to a strike action, two working days to a strike action, you come to appeal to us. I think the appeal has come a little too late,” Piwuna stated.
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