The much-anticipated meeting between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) concluded on a positive note today, with both parties describing the discussions as “fruitful.”
However, they refrained from disclosing specific details about the issues addressed during the nearly two-hour session.
The meeting, held at the conference hall of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja, was aimed at resolving lingering issues to prevent another nationwide strike by university lecturers.
The Federal Government’s delegation was led by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, while ASUU was represented by its President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, along with other executive members and past presidents of the union.
In a brief statement to journalists after the meeting, Prof. Mamman highlighted the progress made and the next steps for both parties.
He stated, “We have had a very fruitful discussion. We have worked out modalities on how to make progress with them.
The task before us now is to work on those modalities to solving the problems.
We are coming back again, reconvening on the 6th of September, to report back on progress towards the resolution of the issues.”
Similarly, ASUU President, Prof. Osodeke, confirmed that the union had reviewed the government’s actions since their last meeting and agreed to give the government more time to address the outstanding issues.
“We have met to discuss all the issues and what they [the government] have done between the last time we met and today,” he said.
“We have reviewed them and agreed to give the government until our next meeting on September 6 to see what progress has been made.
Hopefully, in the interest of Nigerian students and Nigeria as a country, these issues should be amicably resolved so that we can have a very smooth academic system in the country.”
Despite the optimism expressed by both sides, they remained tight-lipped on the specifics of the discussions and the agreements reached.
This has left many stakeholders, including students and parents, eager for more details as the September 6 reconvening date approaches.
The meeting was convened in response to ASUU’s recent threats to embark on another strike due to the Federal Government’s alleged failure to meet its demands.
