There is high hope that Nigerian students in public universities will soon return to class as the federal government has promised to resume negotiation talks with the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu disclosed this while fielding questions on Channels. Television’s Politics Today, on Wednesday, September 6, 2022. Remember, that since February 14, 2022, there have been no academic activities in public universities in the country due to the ongoing ASUU strike. The union is demanding the release of revival funds for universities, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release of earned allowances for university lecturers, and deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS). The government claimed to have addressed most of the union’s demands, including the release of N50b for the payment of earned allowances for academic and non-academic staff of universities, but said the union would not pay the arrears sums of the strike period are not paid. The union also insisted not to call off the ongoing strike until the arrears are settled. However, in the latest development, the government has promised to see an end to the ongoing strike and will soon hold another discussion with the leader of the trade union. Speaking on the government’s effort to end the strike, Adamu said the federal government had made an offer to the university teachers. “The agreement that we reached or the position that I offered of government that I offered for is something that the government can pay if they say they will agree,” the minister of education further noted. According to him, the government ‘ proposed a one-time package for the striking lecturers and explained that it will not be paid in instalments.However, he said President Muhammadu Buhari was saddened by the protracted strike of over 200 days, promising to ensure that the dispute is resolved . “Fellow Nigerians, I sit here and promise you I will do the best. I can see the ASUU strike being called off and even without making this promise to you, it is my intention to meet the president of ASUU immediately after this interview and it is not going to be a social visit. This is just in continuation of what we did before,” he said. “I tell you, I don’t have the words to tell the nation the weight I feel of this strike on my shoulders and I will do the best I can to end it.”
