By Abdullahi Sarki
The Kaduna State University chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has expressed readiness to engage the Kaduna State Government in immediate negotiations to resolve outstanding issues threatening industrial harmony at the institution.
The Chairman of ASUU-KASU, Dr Abubakar Abdullahi, disclosed this on at a press conference at the union’s secretariat in Kaduna.
Abdullahi said the union was prepared to meet with the government at any time, stressing that its priority was to find lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the university. “Even if government calls us now, we are ready to move.
Anything that will bring peace and stability to the system is what we want. Even if it is 3am, wherever we are, we are ready to go and engage and find solutions to the problems,” he said.
The union chairman explained that the two-week ultimatum issued by ASUU-KASU followed a directive from the union’s national leadership.
He, however, expressed optimism that dialogue with the state government could produce concrete solutions before the expiration of the ultimatum.
Abdullahi said the union was not interested in shutting down the university, warning that industrial action would negatively affect lecturers, students and the institution.
“We don’t want to go on strike. We don’t want to shut down the university because we know the implications. We want peace and stability in the university,” he said.
He identified the implementation and domestication of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement as the union’s major demand.
According to him, implementation of the agreement would significantly address staff welfare and other conditions of service affecting academic staff.
“Our major concern is the implementation of the 2025 agreement. If the agreement is implemented, it will go a long way in addressing the welfare of our members and some of the challenges facing the university,” Abdullahi said.
The chairman said the union had previously raised 10 issues with the authorities, three of which had since been resolved.
He commended the authorities for addressing the three matters but said seven outstanding issues remained unresolved after almost two years of engagement.
“We have 10 issues that we raised before. Three have been addressed and we appreciate the government for that. But seven are still outstanding and we have been engaging for almost two years,” he said.
The latest development follows the two-week ultimatum issued by ASUU-KASU amid concerns over the departure of academic staff and the non-implementation of the 2025 Federal Government-ASUU agreement.
The union had warned that failure to address its demands could result in a total and indefinite strike.
Other unresolved issues cited by the union include university autonomy, excessive workload, promotion arrears, death benefits, group life insurance, wage awards and pension remittances.
The dispute came to wider attention after ASUU-KASU alleged that more than 200 academic staff, including professors, had left the institution because of poor conditions of service and the failure to implement the 2025 agreement.
The Kaduna State Government, however, has expressed willingness to engage the union.
The Principal Private Secretary to Governor Uba Sani, Prof Bello Ayuba, said on Wednesday that the government was prepared to embrace dialogue and established channels of engagement to resolve the issues and prevent disruption of academic activities.
Abdullahi urged the government and other stakeholders to use the opportunity for renewed engagement, assuring that the union would negotiate in good faith.
He appealed for urgent action on the outstanding demands, saying this would help restore confidence among academic staff and avert disruption of academic activities at Kaduna State University.
