PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to resolve the prolonged strike embarked upon by the four university-based unions and report back to him in two weeks’ time.
President Buhari gave the directive on Tuesday after he received briefings from the relevant government ministries, agencies and departments involved in resolving the face-off with the university unions.
President Buhari was said to have summoned the Tuesday meeting to receive briefing from the government team on why the strike has lingered for too long. After hearing from the relevant MDA’s directly involved in the negotiation, President Buhari ordered the Minister of Education to ensure that the impasse was resolved within two weeks and report back to him.
At the meeting were the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Ngige, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, the Chairman of National Salaries Income and Wages Commission, Ekpo Nta, and the Director-General Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.
The university unions that are on strike include the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational Allied Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists “NAAT”.
To be part of the federal government team to resolve the matter are the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, as well as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha should be part of the team to interface with the striking unions.
