In a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Kano Zone, initiated by the Kano State Government, the state’s Head of Civil Service (HOCS) Usman Bala says Kano is exploiting all available avenues to ensure that lectures of the state owned universities call off the strike.
He mentioned this while addressing newsmen after the meeting that took place at the Audu Bako Secretariat on Tuesday.
He explained further that the meeting was fruitful and that on the state government’s side it is working on some of the demands earlier placed on the table by the union in the state owned universities.
Meanwhile, no decisions have been reached on the meeting which is going to resume in seven days from Tuesday to allow for further consultations.
“The government deems it imperative in view of the protracted nature of the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, that the government should engage the Union of the Universities with a view of finding amicable way of getting them back to resume academic activities in the state owned universities that include Science and Technology University Wudil and that of Yusuf Maitama Sule University.
“Discussions are ongoing and we have had a very fruitful engagement and we have understood the reason why the ASUU are still on strike.
“The demands boarder on the need for the Federal Government to address some of the issues bedeviling the education sector especially the universities.
“We have their local demands which the government is addressing, the government had addressed a substantial part of those demands. We have tried to persuade them to come back to work.
“We are at a very good note in terms of trying to get them disembark from this strike however, they belong to the national Union and are saying that they can’t act in isolation. So the discussion is ongoing” the HOCS stated.
However, on the part of the ASUU members, the Zonal Coordinator of the Union in Kano, Abdulqadir Muhammad stated that the two branches of ASUU in the two state owned universities will continue the strike to its logical conclusion.
“We have had a meeting with the states Head of Civil Service who is also the chief of staff to the heads of the two universities, and it is part of the discussions which have been going on between us and the state, as key stakeholders, since the commencement of the national strike action.
“The government appeal to the two branches of the two universities to see the need for them to pull out of the current national strike action, which to them the two branches are on solidarity strike.
“As a union we took time to educate the committee that these two branches are not on solidarity strike. They are on a genuine, legitimate strike action as a chattered branch of this Union and part of the key stakeholders, and took the decision that this strike should continue to its logical conclusion, until the federal government does the needful.
“We took time to explain to the government, the position of these two branches that the strike will continue until otherwise determined by the National Executive Council of the union” he stated.
He stated that the union further drew the attention of the state government that the matter is currently before the National Industrial Court and therefore parties concerned should wait for the outcome of the court proceedings.
The ASUU zonal coordinator also mentioned that there are local issues that are particular with the two state owned universities that have not been addressed. He added that the universities have the permission of the union to embark on another strike after the the national strike is concluded if those demands are not met.
