On Tuesday, Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, described the federal government’s efforts to end the strike that the Academic Staff Union of Universities began on February 14.
Adamu said the government has promised the union a 23.5 percent pay increase “for all category of the workforce in Federal Universities, save for the professorial cadre, which will enjoy a 35% upward review” during a news conference in Abuja.
A total of N150 billion, according to Adamu, “will be earmarked for in the 2023 Budget as funding for the revitalization of Federal Universities, to be released to the Institutions in the First Quarter of the year,” was another promise made by the government.
Additionally, the government promised to set aside N50 billion “for the payment of outstanding areas of earned academic allowances, to be paid in the first quarter of the year” in the 2023 budget.
Minister Adamu stated that the offer was rejected by ASUU and three other university unions who had been on strike because they felt it was “inadequate to fulfill their various requests needed to handle the difficulties facing the university sector.”
The union wants salaries to increase by more than 100%, an ASUU insider claims.
After additional negotiations with the government, other unions, including NASU, SSANU, and NAAT, suspended their industrial action. In contrast, ASUU extended its strike indefinitely.
The Minister remarked, “We have done the best that we could given the circumstances.
The Minister added that the “no work, no pay” problem continues to be a significant roadblock in the negotiations.
According to Minister Adamu, “Government made it plain that it would not infringe the law in the spirit of sincerity.”
And on this, I must publicly and once more thank all the unions who made the effort to comprehend the government’s position.
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