From: MAGNUS EZE, Abuja
Hope of an early truce between the Federal Government and university lecturers has been dashed as a meeting today, to resolve the face-off that is in its fourth day ended in a deadlock.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had down tools over intractable issues surrounding its 2009 agreement with the Government.
At the meeting at the instance of Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige could not prevail on the striking lecturers to call off their industrial action as ASUU President; Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi told newsmen that they would have to go back to their members before reverting to Government in a week.
According to him, “the government has made some offers in the issues we have raised and we have taken copious note of their offers and we have to get back to our members and make all the information available to them for them to consider and advise us and based on their position, we will come back to government hopefully within the next one week.”
He declined to go into specifics, explaining that the offers made by government were for their members.