The ASUU strike 2013 continues, but the latest update is that the majority of union branches voted in meetings on Monday to end the strike.
It was the first time members of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities met after the marathon meeting between union leadership and President Goodluck Jonathan.
Now the branch leaders will meet on Wednesday in Kano to decide whether to end the strike, based on the branch decisions. So far, incoming results indicate that the clear majority have voted for the strike to end.
Following the meeting with Jonathan, union leadership had pledged to take the deal Jonathan offered to union members.
A source told The Punch that a key component of the deal was the government promising to inject N1.1 trillion into public universities over five years. That amounts to N220 billion every year, beginning in 2014. An additional N100 billion would be for 2013.
One Nigerian Naira equals one cent in U.S. dollars.
The money would be released every quarter, processed through the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the National Universities Commission and the Trade Union Congress would be the joint guarantors of the agreement, with the minister of education as the implementation officer.
The union’s only demands are that the government have all monetary and regulatory agencies sign the injection agreement, a source told NGTrends.com.
“The reason we will ensure this is that we don’t want argument tomorrow that the agreement was entered in error or that they don’t know the implication of signing the agreement,” the source said. “If possible, documents that will provide for automatic deduction of the agreed money at a particular/agreed date must be provided.”
UPDATE: News from the meetings on Monday as it comes through
-The union branch at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka voted to end the strike--but only if salaries are paid to the lecturers for the time they didn’t work during the strike, reported the Citizen. The branch will continue the strike with or without the national body, branch president Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Abada said.
-Other branches joining in a call to end the strike are, according to the Campus Times and Daily Times:
The University of Ibadan
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria
Uthman Dan Fodio University Sokoto
Federal University of Technology MINNA
The University of Lagos
The University of Calabar
Federal University of Technology Akure
Ekiti State University
Imo State University
Bayero University Kano
Delta State University
Federal University of Technology Owerri
-The branch at the University of Jos voted for the strike to continue, reported the Nation. Dr. David Jankam, chairman of the chapter, said that branch members thought that what was discussed between President Jonathan and the union leadership avoided the main issues of the strike. “I will now convey the resolve of our branch to our national president in our NEC meeting scheduled for this week,“ he said. ”If the majority of the chapter voted for call off, it will be called off, but if majority of chapters voted for continuation, so be it.”
-The University of Benin also wants the strike to continue
