After discussing the 2009 agreements with the Federal Government renegotiation committee, the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, as well as the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions, have both stated that they have yet to receive any message.
The Federal Government renegotiation committee, which would be chaired by Prof. Nimi Briggs, Pro-Chancellor of Alex Ekweme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, is slated to review the draft proposed 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and renegotiate with other striking university unions.
The Briggs renegotiation committee has been meeting with university unions since April 2022, and they are all presently on strike as a result of unmet demands in the 2009 agreements made with the FG.
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In an interview with PUNCH NG, ASUU National President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke said the Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee informed the union that they were waiting for the Federal Government to respond to the findings of the meeting they held so far.
‘Yes, we had a meeting with them last week and they have not called us again. All they told us was that they are waiting for their principal, that when their principal responds, they will get back to us,’’ he said.
Osodeke stated that they had not gotten invitation for another meeting. But lamented that this was the situation since May 2021, ‘‘The same way they told us they were waiting for the FG in May 2021 and yet no result.’’
Similarly, Mr Ibrahim Mohammed, the national president of SSANU, who met with the Renegotiation Committee last week Friday, claimed that all that had been done was appraisals and reviews, and that the Briggs committee was waiting for their’masters’ to reply.
‘‘They told us they are waiting for their ‘masters’ we reviewed the meeting and they promised to get back to us when their principal responds. So we are waiting. The strike is still on.’’
