We didn’t shun Senate meeting on strike —ASUU

Academic Staff Union of Universities on Tuesday denied reports that it failed to honour the invitation of the Senate Committee on Education to a meeting with the Federal Government.

In a statement in Abuja, ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Faggae, said the union not only honoured the invitation but that its team also arrived early and left only after being made to wait for two and half hours without being attended to.

He said, “It is an age-old tradition of ASUU to honour any invitation for a meeting that is intended to discuss the university system or the Nigerian nation.

“We wish to reiterate our position and willingness to discuss with any individual, group or government in respect of the present action, which has been forced on our union by Government’s refusal to implement the agreement it entered into with ASUU in 2009.”

Explaining why the union left the National Assembly complex, ASUU said it had earlier scheduled a meeting for 3pm on the same day, hoping that the Senate’s meeting, which was fixed for 1pm, would have been over.

Faggae said, “We were moved on three different occasions to different places in the room to sit. After we thought we had finally been allowed to sit down in the hall, we were again, for the fourth time, asked to move to another side of the hall.

“At about 1.30pm, the ASUU team was asked by an official of the committee to leave the venue and go to the office of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education to wait. The official informed the ASUU team that it would be recalled in 15 minutes. The ASUU team obliged and went there to wait.

“The ASUU team waited for one hour and it took the call of the President to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education before a piece of paper was sent by the chairman, requesting that we gave them another 15 minutes to conclude their discussions with ASUP. The ASUU team obliged and continued to wait for another 30 minutes.

“Finally, after waiting for two and a half hours without any firm indication that it would be attended to, the ASUU team decided at 3.30pm to leave for another crucial meeting, which had been pending since 3pm.”

ASUU added, “On the way to the other meeting, the ASUU president called the chairman of the Senate committee to brief him on the development and requested that another earliest date be fixed for the meeting. The Senate committee chairman promised to do so.

“As can be seen, ASUU not only honoured the invitation of the committee; the ASUU team arrived early and on time, waited for two and half hours, and eventually had to leave for another crucial meeting at 3.30pm.”