The federal government and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) locked horns again Tuesday over modalities to end the five-month-old strike.
While President Muhammadu Buhari directed that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige should be part of meetings to resolve the crisis, the ASUU leadership said it would not participate in any process involving the minister.
Aside from ASUU, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Allied Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) have been in similar industrial action for disperate reasons.
Some of the demands of ASUU include: Revitalisation of public universities, payment of earned academic allowances and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for payment of university lecturers among others
Now, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has declared a nationwide protest for July 26 and 27 to show solidarity with the striking lecturers.
Also, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) at the weekend threatened to join the strike action if the demands of ASUU are not met by the federal government.
President Buhari on Tuesday directed the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, to resolve the prolonged industrial action embarked upon by ASUU and three other university-based unions.
According to Daily Trust, the president gave the directive after receiving briefings from the relevant government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the ongoing efforts to end the face-off with the university unions.
After Tuesday’s briefing, the president ordered the education minister to ensure that the areas of disagreement were sorted out within two weeks and report back to him.
In addition to Adamu and Ngige, Buhari had directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha to be part of the team to interface with the striking unions.
In attendance at the meeting were the Minister of Education, Malam 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.
