Details of the highly confidential meeting between
President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of
Academic Staff Union of Universities are gradually
coming out as a source has disclosed to PUNCH
newspaper on Tuesday evening that a major part of the
agreement reached by the parties during the meeting was that the
Federal Government would spend N1.1tn
in the next five years to improve on the nation's
Universities. Similar to DailyPost earlier report, the source equally
hinted that the strike would be called off anytime next
week. The source further disclosed that the government's team, led by
President Goodluck Jonathan has agreed
to release N220bn every year, into the sector, starting from 2014. He
added, "The meeting should be the longest that we have ever had on
this crisis,
but I can tell you that both parties were frank all through the
discussions. "The parties also showed commitment towards ending the
crisis. The President in particular showed that
he was serious about ending the strike and that was why he offered to
release over N1tn to the universities
in the next five years. "The money will be released on a yearly basis
at N220bn per annum beginning from 2014. For the outgoing
year, the government will only release N100bn and this has been
processed." He further affirmed that to ensure its commitment to the
agreement, the government has equally accepted
that "the fund(N1.1tn) be domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria"
"The money will be released on a quarterly basis to the universities.
So, there won't be any problem about
funding the deal," the source said. Possible joint guarantors of the
agreement, according to the source will include, National Universities
Commission and the Trade Union Congress, while the Minister of
Education will be the implementation
officer.
--
Faith Olaniran
Mobile lines: +234-8062723258, +234-8074695684,
www.faitholaniran.blogspot.com
Twitter:@olaniranfaith
facebook:Faith Oluwalose Olaniran
A Seeker of the Unknown to man but Known to God.
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