The Academic Staff Union of Universities has rejected appeal by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige to call off its ongoing one-month strike.

National president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke revealed this in an interview with The PUNCH.

Remember that Ngige had actually met with the management of ASUU during a closed-door conference on Tuesday.

During the meeting which lasted for numerous hours, the minister accused ASUU of claiming that the federal government had actually failed to execute some long standing agreements.

Ngige in an interview with Punch, said ASUU demands were being evaluated, adding that he would meet ASUU and the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council next week.

He stated, “We have gone over rather a variety of things and I am prompting them to brief their members and call off the strike before the expiration of the one-month period of the alerting strike. By Monday, we would have dealt with a few of the concerns they are speaking about and go back to them for additional discussion. We will reunite with them and the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council and we will take it from there.”

The nationwide president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke in an interview with The PUNCH firmly insisted that the union would not call off its strike if all its needs were not fulfilled.

Osodeke said, “We can cancel the strike tomorrow if the FG carries out and fulfills all our needs. It is in their hands to meet all the demands not in our hands. If they want it called off today, next week, it is possible if they must do what they are expected to do and not all these empty promises that we are not sure they will not execute. If you call off the strike, as typical, they will desert everything.”

Ngige cautioned the union not to daunt the committee and Ministry of Education, saying if they did, their file would not fly.

“We had a committee we impanelled in the ministry of education to take matters up because they are the direct employers of the speakers. The committee was headed by Professor Manzali and there was a draft proposal which the education ministry has to agree on with them and after that break it up to the greater bodies of the government, the Presidential Committee on Salaries, and from there, it goes to FEC for approval.

“ASUU should not daunt the education ministry or the committee to come up with things that are not in tandem with the regular rate. The document will not fly if they do that. The ministry of education will resuscitate that committee within 2 weeks to look at the draft proposition it had with ASUU so that they can create something for the PSC to have a look at and send out to FEC”.

Osodeke replied that all the union desired was for the FG to carry out the contracts.

“We have no issue and we are busy people he might have all the time, our own is for them to execute.

“If our union might negotiate throughout the military age and had actually arrangements signed but in the civilian period they are telling us what to do and what not to do, that implies something is incorrect with this system. What they are doing now is to be blackmailing us and daunting us.

“We are simply waiting they have actually said this over and over. , if they are severe let them implement all that we have concurred on.. We can cancel tomorrow if they implement. Nigerians should inform them to implement the arrangement, we don’t gamble.”

ToriNG