The Academic Staff Union of Universities, or ASUU, has accused the federal government of being sloppy in its negotiations with the union, which is now on a four-week strike.
As a result, the union stated that ending the strike is contingent on the government’s willingness to take the problem seriously and take action.
Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the National President of ASUU, said in an interview with Newsmen that the last meeting between the two parties failed to produce anything because the government delegation acted as if it didn’t understand the issues at hand.
“Our last meeting did not lead to anything meaningful because the government team acted as if they were not aware of the issues at stake. We have been on this thing for some years now. What we expected from them is to come to the meeting with answers to what we are demanding.
“We were surprised that their team came with no action as to how to resolve the issues. Another meeting is slated for Tuesday and we hope they would change and do the needful. What we are asking for has been in public domain for long that almost everybody knows what the issues are. It is surprising that they did not come with any action plan to.meet our demands and resolve the issues,” he said.
When asked if the next meeting will be utilized to resolve the standoff, Osodeke answered it would depend on the government’s actions and preparation.
He went on to say that the union’s demands had not changed, including revitalising university education, ending the use of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System, or IPPIS, as the university’s payment system, and paying promotion and salary arrears, among other things.
According to our correspondent’s findings, the two key points of contention are the IPPIS, which academics want replaced with the University Transparency and Accountability System, UTAS, and enough sector funding.
The government is hesitant to abolish IPPIS because it believes it helps to eliminate the scenario in which some academics are employed by multiple universities.
The government is alleging a lack of funding in response to the need for more money to be injected into the sector, a claim the union says can be addressed by the government establishing its priorities correctly.
If the two parties do not reach an agreement by March 13 of this year, the union may go on strike indefinitely.
