President Muhammadu Buhari has given the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, two weeks to resolve the impasse that led to the five-month strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and three other university-based unions and report back to him.
President Buhari gave the directive on Tuesday after receiving briefings from the relevant government Ministries, Agencies, and Departments involved in resolving the face-off with the university unions.
Recall ASUU embarked on a one-month warning strike on February 14 and was joined by 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) thereafter, following the inability of the federal government to meet up with their demands.
The Tuesday meeting, summoned by President Buhari, was to receive a briefing from the government team on why the strike had lingered for so long.
Sources at the meeting also stated that President Buhari instructed the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to attend all sessions to resolve the crisis.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, sources say, was also mandated to be part of the team to interface with the striking unions.
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; and the Director-General of the Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.
