FG To Renegotiate 1999 Agreements with ASUU, Others

03 Dec FG To Renegotiate 1999 Agreements with ASUU, Others

Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, on Wednesday inaugurated a Federal Government committee to renegotiate the agreements it entered in 1999 with university-based unions.

The action of the government followed controversies that have trailed the terms of the agreements by both parties.

He said, “The Committee is expected to take another look at the 2009 agreements reached with the university-based unions and work with each union towards making far-reaching recommendations that would reposition the Nigerian university system.”

The team, which is categorised into substantive members, advisers and observers, is led by Professor Emeritus, Munzali Jibril.

The Minister said President Muhammadu Buhari “approved the reconstituted Federal Government Team for the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreements.”

He noted that the “Federal Government and relevant stakeholders, in the past months have been neck-deep in several meetings with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and others, to resolve the outstanding issues that led to the current industrial action in public universities. ”

Adamu reaffirmed “the commitment of the present administration to finding lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the education sector, and most especially, the university sub-sector.

He listed the terms of reference of the team to include the following: ”Re-negotiate the residual issues in the 2009 Agreements between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the university-based unions, towards a workable and implementable agreement between both parties, such that will facilitate repositioning of Nigerian universities for greater responsibilities in national development.

“Propose and prescribe short, medium and long-term measures for the sustainable funding and management of Federal universities, to restore lasting peace, stability, harmony, and progress in the Nigerian University System; and make any other recommendations, as may be necessary, to ensure the realistic implementation of future agreements, by all stakeholders.”