President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Minister of Labour and
Employment, Chris Ngige, to end the three-month-old strike by Nigerian
university teachers at the ongoing meeting with the teachers.
Mr Ngige disclosed this in a statement issued during the resumed
negotiation with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) on Monday.
The statement by the Assistant Director, Press at the ministry, Rhoda
Illiya, said the president told the minister that the strike must be
called off at the end of the meeting on Monday.
The university lecturers embarked on an indefinite strike on November
4, demanding improved funding of universities and implementation of
previous agreements with the government.
“Mr President has directed me to pass the night here until all issues
that have kept our children away from school are resolved and the
strike called off.
“The president has also directed me to impress upon you, the
imperative of little sacrifice from all sides, knowing fully well that
the revenue of the Federation has dwindled from what it was before the
present administration assumed office,” Mr Ngige said.
He said the president was concerned by the prevailing crisis in the
university system, hence his steady commitment to a “holistic approach
to tackling the rot through adequate funding, notwithstanding the
dwindling accruals.
“The president told me to assure you of his determination to
reposition our universities as he would do everything possible to cast
the present challenges in our tertiary education to the dustbin of
history,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, it was reported the union asking the government
to release N50 billion to demonstrate its commitment to the
revitalisation of public universities, in line with previous agreements
with them.
The striking lecturers gave this as one of the conditions for calling off the strike.
The ASUU delegation arrived for Monday’s negotiation at the ministry some minutes before 4:00 p.m.
The meeting which is holding at the Federal Ministry of Labour and
Employment, Abuja is not the first since the beginning of the strike