The Federal Ministry of Education has said it will not enter into agreements with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) under duress.
The ministry called on ASUU to call off its strike “so that we will not have gunpoint negotiations and make promises that we will not be able to fulfil.”
The ministry’s spokesman, Ben Goong, made this known in an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday.
Goong stated, “The government has done something tangible. Even The PUNCH has been reporting some of the things that the government did to avert this strike.
Also Read: Nothing Tangible Has Happened Despite Warning Strike – ASUU
“If I were ASUU, I would call off the strike and that is what we are telling ASUU to do. Call off the strike so that nobody will be negotiating out of duress. If you continue the strike, we will have agreements at gunpoint with you.
“If they stay on the strike, in a desperate attempt to make sure that the universities are re-opened, we will make agreements under duress. We are not in a state of war that you must be on strike before you negotiate.
“You say it is a warning strike and the government has begun the implementation of agreements, it is only normal that you call off your strike, but it is as if they have that mindset of a strike.”
