ASUU strike: Minister to meet with NUT leaders on Wednesday

The Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, is to meet with leaders of the Nigerian Union of Teachers on Wednesday to discuss the union’s threat of going on a solidarity strike.
The union had after its National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on September 26 threatened to join the Academic Staff Union of Universities in a solidarity strike.
It gave the Federal Government two weeks to meet ASUU’s demands or face a total strike that would paralyse the country’s education sector.
According to the President of the NUT, Michael Olukoya, the strike by ASUU could best be described as truly nationalistic, patriotic and a self sacrifice.
Olukoya said at the NEC meeting that the NUT would not hesitate to go in solidarity with ASUU, if the Federal Government failed to honour the existing agreement reached with the union in 2009.
The development had jolted the Minister, who scheduled the meeting with the NUT executive “to find out what their problem is with the ASUU strike”.
Wike said when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education, who were on an oversight function to his ministry on Monday: “We just heard that the NUT is threatening to go on strike because of ASUU and we are wondering what the ASUU strike has got to do with the NUT.
“When states failed to pay the minimum wage for teachers and they went on strike, ASUU did not join them.
“The NUT takes care of basic and secondary teachers’ interests, so it has no business with ASUU.
“I believe when we meet on Wednesday, we will sort it out.”
The Public Relations Officer of the NUT, Emmanuel Hwande, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja that the union leaders were set to meet with the minister on Wednesday, at his instance.
Hwande said contrary to reports that the union had boycotted the meeting earlier scheduled for Monday, the NUT had only received the notice of the said meeting for Wednesday.
President Goodluck Jonathan had on Sunday, during the Presidential Media Chat, lamented that in spite of the offer of N100 billion made by his administration to the striking lecturers, the industrial action appears to have been politicised.
Jonathan said ASUU ought to have been placated by the money meant to boost university infrastructure, while negotiations on the outstanding contentious issues continued.