Jonathan meets ASUU today, union warns against force

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will meet the
leadership of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities on Monday (today), apparently
with a view to resolve the Federal
Government-ASUU face-off that has left
varsity gates shut since July 1.
But the union said it had got wind of
Presidency's plan to direct that universities be
reopened, saying such directive without
amicable resolution of the current strike
would deepen the crisis.
Chairman of ASUU, University of Uyo chapter,
Dr. Nwachukwu Anyim, said this in a
statement in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on
Sunday, saying that the union leaders were
invited by the President.
Anyim said the invitation by Jonathan should
ordinarily inspired hopes that the four-
month-old strike by the lectures would soon
end but that the union needed to be cautious
in its optimism.
His statement read, "We are aware that
President Jonathan intends to meet with the
leadership of ASUU tomorrow, Monday,
November 4, 2013, in a bid to address the
deadlock in the ongoing strike by the
members of the union.
"Ordinarily, the invitation by the President to
the union would give the impression that the
resolution of the strike was on the horizon.
While we appreciate the present show of
concern from the high office of the
Presidency, we are, however, cautious in our
optimism that the meeting between the
President of the country and the union would
yield desired results.
"The apparent lack of enthusiasm among our
members concerning the outcome of the
meeting is based on government's lack of
commitment towards the implementation of
the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and the
memorandum signed with ASUU. While we
hope that the Federal Government would see
reason to finally resolve the issues in
contention, we urge well -meaning Nigerians
and stakeholders to persuade government to
implement the agreement with the union in
order to save Nigeria's public universities."
It added, "We have received information that
President Jonathan intends to direct that
universities should be re-opened immediately.
As a branch, we do not think that such a
directive would resolve the issues at stake.
Rather, such a directive would deepen the
prevailing crisis. A show of force by the
president could only, at best, result in a
"pyrrhic victory."
"We stand on the existing agreement between
the union and the Federal Government. The
MoU between government and ASUU and also
the NEEDS Assessment Report should provide
the road map for the resolution of the
ongoing strike by ASUU."