The National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, will hold on Monday next week to decide on the offers by the Federal Government for it to end its ongoing strike.
The meeting promises to be a decisive one and may determine whether the government would axe the union as being contemplated.
This is just as a member of the NEC told Vanguard in confidence that whatever would be the decision of the union, would be in the best interest of the university system.
However, when contacted, the National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said his union was yet to officially get any offer from the government’s side.
We have been negotiating with them through collective bargaining and whatever they have should not be made to us on the pages of newspapers. It should be done the way it is expected to be done. Our main problem with the government is that there is trust deficit. They will say something and will do another thing.
“After the Memorandum of Action was signed last year with them, they were supposed to pay some money in two tranches starting from August last year, but they did not do the needful.
As for other unions suspending their actions, ASUU is not a one man show, we will look collectively at whatever is presented to us. But as at now, nothing has been officially offered,” he said.
However, checks by Vanguard revealed that the coming NEC meeting could lead to the FG coming down hard on the union if it decides to continue with the strike.
Recall that the union has been on strike since February 14 and three weeks ago, extended it for another four weeks that would terminate next Monday.