FG Orders ASUU To Reopen Varsities Dec 4 Strike an act of sabotage – Minister

The Federal Government on Thursday ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities to reopen the institutions within one week.

The supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja.

He described the ongoing varsity teachers’ strike as “act of sabotage.”

“The continuation of the strike despite several meetings, especially with President Goodluck Jonathan is an attempt by the union to sabotage all efforts by government to address the issue, “he said.

Wike stated that government has directed that all Vice Chancellors of Federal Universities that are currently on strike to immediately reopen for academic and allied activities.

ASUU embarked on the strike on July 1 to protest government’s non-implementation of the 2009 agreement signed by both parties.

The minister disclosed that government has met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the agreement.

According to Wike, government took the decision to reopen the universities following ASUU’s new conditions which are “not tenable. “

His words: “On November 4, 2013 President Goodluck Jonathan met with ASUU executive,  labour union leaders from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), where all the issues were resolved and firm commitments made to address the lingering crisis.

“It is noteworthy that Mr. President’s gesture was more than sufficient to guarantee the commitment of government to address all issues raised at the meeting with Mr. President. At the end of the meeting, the ASUU team promised to convene a meeting of its National Executive Committee to present the resolutions reached and report back by Friday November 8, 2013. It is unfortunate that while travelling to attend the NEC meeting in Kano, we lost a key member and former President of the union, Prof. Festus Iyayi.

“Government sympathizes with the family of the late Iyayi and ASUU. It is however amazing that three weeks after the meeting with Mr. President, ASUU responded by giving new conditions for suspending the five month old strike. I have never seen anywhere in any country where you sit down with Mr. President. That is the highest level of discussion. If you cannot believe Mr. President then who else will you believe?”
“Any academic staff who fails to resume on or before December 4 automatically ceases to be a staff of the institution. Vice-Chancellors are also directed to advertise vacancies (internal and external) in their institutions.
“The National Universities Commission is hereby directed to monitor the compliance of these directives by the various institutions. The Federal Government has met all its commitment and obligations with respect to the FG/ASUU 2009 Agreement. We appeal to all stakeholders to appreciate the position of government which is in the best interest of our dear country.”