Sonny Echono: FG Reached Agreement With ASUU Under Duress

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of
Education, Sonny Echono, on Thursday said most of the
agreements reached with the Academic Staff Union of
Universities were under duress.
Echono stated this during a retreat organised by the
governing council of the University of Abuja.
ASUU and the Federal Government have constantly been
engaged in tussles over the latter’s failure to meet some
of the demands put forward by ASUU.
Echono said, “I have heard so much about the fact that
the government has failed to honour the agreements with
ASUU. I have a different view about that because most of
these agreements are imperfect.
“If somebody comes to my house and puts a gun to my
head, I might agree to everything because those
agreements are signed under duress. If you want to
introduce obligations or responsibilities on their part, they
will insist you cannot.”
Meanwhile sources on Thursday told our correspondent
that ASUU would decide whether to go on strike or not
following the end of its scheduled zonal conferences on
December 15, 2021.
In a document obtained by The PUNCH, it was gathered
that the meetings would take place between December 9
and December 15 in Abuja, Nsukka, Ibadan, Yola, Benin,
Akure, Lagos, Bauchi, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Calabar,
Sokoto and Kano.
The source added that the decision to go on strike would
depend on the outcome of the zonal press briefings.