The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has ruled out any possibility of suspending its six months’ strike, accusing labour minister Chris Ngige of being a stumbling block in resolving the impasse between the union and the government.

ASUU president Emmanuel Osodeke said this during a news conference at the University of Abuja, on Tuesday, slamming Mr Ngige for creating more chaos in the resolution process.

“ASUU, therefore, makes bold to say that the minister of labour and employment has taken upon himself the role of unabashed protagonist in our ongoing dispute with the government of Nigeria for some inexplicable reasons. Dr Ngige earlier told whoever cared to listen that he was not the employer of university academics and advised the union to march to the ministry of education,” the union leader said.

He added, “Nigerians may wish to know why he (Mr Ngige) has suddenly turned around to constitute himself as an impediment to an amicable resolution of the ongoing crisis.”

The union said it remained focused on making the Nigerian university system internationally competitive and commended Nigerians for standing by them, stressing that “we are as bothered as you are because we share a common interest in the Nigerian project.” 

“However, ASUU shall continue to be guided by the sacred canons of integrity, objectivity, and responsibility to which both academics and media practitioners subscribe,” the ASUU president further said. “It is our fervent hope and desire that the current groundswell of interests would culminate in a convergence of solutions to this avoidable crisis in the overall interest of Nigeria. Together, we shall win. The struggle continues.” 

He maintained that if Mr Ngige meant well as a “conciliator, he won’t be putting roadblocks on the path to completing a process” that dragged on for more than five years.

“However, ASUU has always had serious reservations about the claim of “conciliation” by someone who has taken sides in the dispute, or by an unabashed protagonist in the crisis such as the current minister of labour and employment. It is antithetical to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions (98, 151 & 154) on collective bargaining,” Mr Osodeke explained.

The ASUU leader condemned the minister’s approach insisting it “is against the principle of natural justice and the doctrine of equality for Dr Ngige who carries himself as if he has personal scores to settle with ASUU and shoots down the union everywhere it matters to assume the role of conciliator.”

ASUU had on February 14 embarked on strike to press home its demand, on government’s investment in the nation’s university infrastructure, and payment of members’ salaries through the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), among others.

(NAN)