set to convene its National Executive
Committee this weekend to discuss the offer
made to the union by the Federal Government
to develop public universities, it was learnt on
Wednesday.
ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Faggae after a
meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan
which ended in the early hours of Tuesday
had told reporters that the union would take
back an undisclosed message to the striking
lecturers.
The Federal Government had offered to inject
N1.1tn into public universities in the next five
years.
The Punch gathered that the union had
concluded arrangement to hold the meeting
to collate the views of members before a final
decision would be taken on whether to accept
or reject the offer.
Usually, the decision to embark on or to call
off strike is taken at the union's NEC meeting.
It was gathered that the meeting might hold
any day between now and next week Friday.
In the hierarchy of ASUU, the zonal
coordinators after a meeting of the national
officers are to brief the branch chairmen who
would consequently call for congress in their
respective universities.
But a source who spoke on condition of
anonymity said a meeting with the zonal
coordinators usually take place two days after
a major meeting with the Federal Government
because they have to come from the nine
zones of the country.
He said, "There is a national strike
coordinating committee comprising the
national principal officers and the zonal
coordinators which is the highest decision-
making body. In the country, we have nine
zones. After the meeting, the zonal
coordinators will brief the branch chairmen
who will now call for a congress to brief all
members."
Asked if the strike would be called off soon,
the source replied, "It is not a decision that
could be taken in a hurry. All members must
be carried along. We have a mandate which is
very clear – that is the implementation of the
2009 agreement. Anything other than that,
they will have to relate to members. The zonal
coordinators will collate the decision of the
branches and forward them to the national
officers."
A chairman of a local branch of ASUU in a
university in the South-West confided in one
of our correspondents that the date for the
NEC meeting would be communicated to all
the chapters on Thursday (today).
Another source said, "Before we embarked on
the strike, there was a referendum. The
referendum did not emanate from the
principal officers but from the branches.
Members must be briefed before any final
decision could be taken."
Meanwhile, strong indications emerged on
Wednesday that ASUU may soon call off its
four-month old strike as the Nigeria Labour
Congress described the meeting between
President Jonathan and the leadership of the
union as the most meaningful since 2009.
The Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Mr.
Chris Uyot, in a telephone interview with one
of our correspondents on Wednesday, urged
ASUU to explain to its members the offer the
Federal Government had made to the striking
lecturers in order to arrive at the next line of
action.
According to him, since ASUU is an affiliate of
the NLC, it is the responsibility of the union
to decide on whether to call off the strike or
not in accordance with standard labour
procedure.
He said, "We simply advise that they carry out
meaningful consultation with their members
and ensure that whatever was offered was
explained in totality to members of ASUU.
"I want to say that since the agreement of
2009 was signed, and of the various
negotiations that have taken place, this was
the most meaningful of the meetings.
"All discussions were taken aside and the
issues in the 2009 agreement were examined,
discussed and analyzed in totality.
"Let the ASUU explain in totality the offer that
was made to its members. Even the NLC has
to explain to the members of the National
Executive Council of the Congress before
taking decisions in such matters. I can only
say that calling off the strike depends on
ASUU," he added.
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