The ASUU strike in 2013 officially continues, but it looks like the latest update may be one of the last—the union’s National Executive Council voted in its secret meeting to end the strike, pending three conditions.
“Our leaders are meeting with the President on Monday to table these conditions,” a source told the Nigerian Eye. “Once the President accepts these three terms, the strike will be called off.”
The conditions are:
1. Commitment from the President that any review or reconsideration or renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement will not substantially affect the pact which is the cause of the ongoing strike;
2. Immediate payment of all outstanding salary arrears and allowances of varsity teachers without victimization; and
3. A written commitment from the President that the Federal Government will commit N225billion annually to the funding of universities for the next four years.
At least one of the conditions may present problems, though. The second condition appears to point to the government giving back-pay to the ASUU members, who have been striking for months, for the time that the members have been striking but not teaching. The government has previously said it would give any back-pay.
The first condition is worded in a vague manner, but appears to say that once the new deal is made between the union and the government, no big changes can be made to the deal.
At the same time, the third condition appears fine as far as the negotiations go. The president had already agreed to inject N1.1 trillion over five years, so the demand isn’t too much higher, and would probably be considered feasible.
The union source--speaking on condition of anonymity because no union members are authorized to discuss the secretive meeting, or what took place there--said that the three conditions were insisted upon because the government wanted to re-negotiate the 2009 agreement. Qualms over the agreement are what spurred the strike in the first place.
“If ASUU had accepted to renegotiate the entire agreement , it means there will be no basis for the ongoing strike. The worst that can happen is either having the abridged version of the 2009 Agreement or a phased implementation of the document,” the source said.
The tense, last-minute negotiations come as several universities have vowed to re-open without union permission.
