ASUU Replies Keyamo, Says FG Using Delay Tactics to Prolong Strike

By Adeleye Kunle

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has responded to a statement attributed to Minister of State for Labour and Employment Festus Keyamo, accusing the federal government of failing to show any commitment to reaching an agreement that will end the university lecturers’ strike.
Keyamo stated on a live television program on Friday that borrowing money to pay lecturers’ salaries would be unrealistic.
“Should we borrow to pay N1.2 trillion per year?” Keyamo inquired.

“You cannot allow one sector of the economy to strangle you and then blackmail you into borrowing N1.2 trillion for overheads when our total income is around N6.1 trillion.” “You also have roads, health centers, and other sectors to take care of,” the minister reportedly added.
However, in a phone interview with Tracknews yesterday, ASUU President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke claimed that the federal government appears to be deliberately delaying the signing of an agreement with the union in order to prolong the strike.

He expressed concern that a prolonged crisis in the country’s university system would result in a mass exodus of highly qualified university staff to other countries.
“Nigerians should question the federal government on what they have proposed to pay and what they have done about it.” Have we ever discussed N1.1 trillion?
“You see, what we’re seeing is that government officials go to the media every day and speak without knowing what they’re talking about. “We will respond appropriately,” he stated.

In response to the proposed salary increase for lecturers, which the government claimed would cost a fortune, Osedeke stated that ASUU did not mention any figure during negotiations with the government team.

“We have never mentioned or calculated any amount.” It is not our responsibility to do any calculations; we are asking for a salary review after 20 years; it is their responsibility to state the amount they will be able to pay based on what we proposed; we have done that with two committees, Munzali Jibril and the most recent one, Nimi Briggs, and we reached an agreement, but they went back and did not contact us.

“This time, they formed a committee led by Prof. Nimi Briggs, and we completed the committee, but they still haven’t gotten back to us.” Keyamo is discussing the figure, but we can’t discuss figures until we reach an agreement,” he added.

In response to Keyamo’s claim that the federal government cannot afford to pay the lecturers a new wage, the president of ASUU said, “Let me put it this way; if you send a lawyer to represent you in a case, will he go and sign an agreement without your permission?”
According to Osedake, the federal government was fully represented in the discussions that led to the proposal.

“We have representatives from the Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Education, the Federal Character Commission, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Finance, Budget, and Planning on that committee.” “They were all present during the draft proposal negotiation, and nobody complained,” he said.

He stated that if the government had any reservations or disagreements with the draft proposal, the best way to resolve them was to return to the negotiating table rather than going to the press to play to the gallery.

He stated that as of yesterday, the government had not contacted the union about the issue.
“By labor laws, they have no right to repudiate it,” Osodeke said of the government’s decision to reject the Briggs proposals. If you have a problem, you go to

“More importantly, these postponement tactics may result in the loss of our best brains in universities by the time it is over.” Do they believe they can go six months without paying university lecturers? Is there any country on the planet where this will occur?

“As a result, they will flee to other countries in droves.” And many of those who remain will not take the university job seriously again because they are used to doing other things that they have discovered are better than teaching. Nigerian students and citizens will bear the brunt of the consequences.”