Author: Phlippages
There seem to be light at the end of the tunnel for Nigerian students in public Universities as President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday has directed the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to resolve the ongoing strike embarked upon by the four university-based unions and report back to him within two weeks.
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.
Recall that ASUU, Academic Staff Union of Universities, had proceeded on one month warning strike on February 14, and other unions also withdrew their services after that as a result of the alleged inability of the federal government to meet up with their demands.
President Buhari, after hearing from the relevant MDAs directly involved, ordered the Minister of Education to ensure that the impasse was resolved within two weeks and report back to him.
The other three unions that embarked 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).
Sources at the meeting said that the president also directed that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, must attend all the meetings to be called to resolve the crisis.
Those 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, the Director-General Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.
