Even as the academic strike at Nigerian public universities lingers, former general secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Chief Frank Ovie Kokori, has advised the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government to go back to the negotiation table and renegotiate to agree on salary and condition of service.
Kokori who spoke to LEADERSHIP Newspaper, said it seems the federal government cannot meet up with the salaries and condition of services it earlier agreed with ASUU, adding that in order not to hold the country to ransom, there was need for the two parties to renegotiate and agree on the amount the government can afford.
The former NUPENG scribe appealed to ASUU to be elastic in the new negotiation, just as he urged members of ASUU who can’t cope with the new arrangement to quit the system, adding that there are alternatives.
“My appeal is that ASUU should be a bit elastic, so that they can meet and reach a consensus,” he said.
Kokori said one of the reasons ASUU is bitter is that it knows the government can meet the salaries and condition of service it promised but the corruption in the system is preventing the government from doing so.
“It is ignorant and irresponsible for government representatives to sign the agreement they know they can’t pay, and the ASUU too should become reasonable by asking the government what amount can you pay, let us know,” he said.
