ASUU Strike: Buhari issues ultimatum to minister to resolve university disputes
President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to resolve the ongoing strike by university lecturers, ASUU, and other university staffers
President Buhari reportedly gave the directive on Tuesday after he received briefings from the relevant government ministries, departments, and agencies involved in resolving the face-off with the university unions.
ASUU has been on strike since February while other workers’ unions in the universities later commenced their own strike.
Apart from ASUU, the other university unions on strike are the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
Apart from demanding better welfare conditions and improved university funding, the unions accuse the federal government of reneging on previous agreements with them.
Tuesday’s meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja was held so that officials involved in the negotiation with the university workers could brief the president.
Those at the meeting with the president were the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Mr. Ngige; the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; the Head of Service of the Federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan; the Chairman of National Salaries Income and Wages Commission, Ekpo Nta, and the Director-General Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.
A source at the meeting said the president, after hearing from the relevant MDAs, ordered the Minister of Education to ensure that the impasse was resolved within two weeks and report back to him.
The source said President Buhari also directed that the labour minister, Chris Ngige, must be present in any meetings held to resolve the crisis.
The president also directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, to be part of the team to interface with the striking unions.
