Kamsi Anayo and Fred Harrison
The meeting between the striking university lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and a Federal Government team led by Prof Nimi Briggs has ended in a deadlock.
There were positive indications that the six months old strike might be called off before the commencement of the meeting.
Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), had said that the union has reached an agreement with the government to adopt the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) as the payment platform of lecturers.
According to him, ASUU will suspend the strike if the federal government agrees to its demands at the meeting.
But the glimmer of home and expectations that preceded the meeting disappeared as it turned out not different previous futile efforts to resolve the lingering industrial dispute.
ASUU leader Osodeke confirmed to journalists that the meeting did not yield any productive result.
He said that both the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed did not attend the meeting.
The Network gathered that hopes at resolving the crisis that has led to the closure of public universities were dashed as the meeting with the Professor Nimi Briggs Committee vouchsafed not produced an agreeable compromise.
A source at the meeting told our reporter that what the government team proposed to the ASUU was a far-cry from the demands of the striking varsity teachers union.
“The meeting didn’t meet the demands of ASUU. What the government was proposing was a far cry from the expectations of ASUU.
“If the government feels there is no money for them to pay and they want the universities to remain shut, it is okay.”
It was gathered that the committee begged ASUU to call off the strike with the pledge that their demands would be captured in next year’s Appropriation Act.
The lecturers, it was further gathered, rejected the plea and insisted on its demands being met before calling off the strike.
The meeting which started about 12 noon ended around 3pm in a stalemate
On February 14, ASUU members embarked on a strike to press home their demands for a better welfare package, revamping of the nation’s education sector among others, a situation that has forced many Nigerian students to be at home for six month.