From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nsukka Zone, has said with the manner the negotiation between it and the Federal Government is going, it is obvious government is begging the union for a strike.

ASUU-Nsukka Zonal Coordinator, Raphael Amokaha  stated this during the meeting of the Zone at the Benue State University (BSU) in Makurdi, Benue State, yesterday.

Similarly, Coordinator of the Abuja zone of the union, Dr Salahu Lawal,  confirmed that the Federal Government had yet to respond to its demands after the expiration of its three-week ultimatum.

Amokaha lamented what it described as the lackadaisical attitude of the federal government towards fulfilling its part by meeting the demands of the union following an agreement that was entered into in 2009.

He added that despite several meetings held between 2020 and now, to address the issues raised, the federal government had not shown much enthusiasm to ensure the implementation of all the agreements reached.

The Zone, while not preempting the outcome of the the ASUU National Executive Council (NEC) meeting which is billed to hold next week, warned that if things are not well handled, the union might end up going on strike again.

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“It seems it is the intention of government that we should threaten and/or go on strike for the implementation of every item in the Memorandum of Action (MoA).

“In view of the lethargic cum insincere approach by government to the peaceable resolution of this matter, the union will not be inclined to this piecemeal implementation of the MoA any longer.

“We call on ASUU NEC to insist on the satisfactory implementation of the MoA as a whole, especially the completion and signing of the renegotiated 2009 Agreement,” Amokaha said.

Lawal said by its intransigence, government was paving way for another strike by the union.

He explained that government was doing this by ignoring outstanding issues in the MoU of December, 2020, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed with the union in February 2019.

The zone comprises Federal University of Lafia, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai and the University of Abuja.