THE Federal Government would on Monday, August 26, meet with the leadership if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to address the union’s grievances and its strike notice.
Recall that ASUU had given the government a 21-day strike notice within which to resolve lingering issues affecting Nigerian universities.
ASUU’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who announced the notice at a press briefing held at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State.
In a response to the notice, Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, said on a television programme on Thursday, August 22, that government would meet with the union’s leaders on Monday to discuss their demands.
He stated that government had reviewed ASUU’s letter and was prepared to address all outstanding issues, adding: “We have already sent out notice to the leadership of ASUU for us to meet on Monday.
“On Wednesday, we (government side) reviewed the letter submitted by ASUU and all the issues which are listed in the letter. It is our hope that by Monday, we will meet to discuss them.
“Some of the issues are historic in nature, when you talk about the 2009 agreement. This is something that dates back to almost 1981 when they started.
“We have been having a series of conversations with the leadership of ASUU on the issues affecting the university system, so that we can, together, address all their concerns.”
