ASUU Strike: FG Gives Update, Reveals Only One Issue Left Before Students Resume

The federal government has declared that all issues, except one responsible for the current strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been resolved or a compromise agreed.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono made this known even as he expressed optimism that students will soon resume.

Echono who spoke during an interview after monitoring the Professional Qualifying Examination organised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria declared that President Muhammadu Buhari is deeply concerned about the lingering strike and wants everything resolved quickly so students can resume.

He added that the ASUU strike is highly unnecessary but the government is working with ASUU members to ensure a quick resolution of all issues.

In his words, “The government is working very closely. We are very concerned and the President is very concerned about this protracted (ASUU) strike which, to so many of us, is unnecessary. We believe there are other ways of getting things done.

“There’s a shared acceptance of so many of the issues and we are at a point that very quickly and soon, it will be resolved. There’s only one issue in contention, really. The other issues have either been resolved or there have been some kind of compromise that worked out.

“We believe that reason will prevail and the overall national interest will be the guiding principle in coming to a quick resolution. I can assure you that work is going on assiduously in this.

“Only two days ago, the ASUU executives were at the Ministry to meet with the Minister for certain consultations and we felt we needed to tell them exactly what our positions are.

“We will look at the overall interest of the Nigerian people. We know that we also operate in a context of government playing out different segments even in the University setting.

Details Of Buhari’s Meeting With ASUU Emerge

The federal government has declared that all issues, except one responsible for the current strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been resolved or a compromise agreed.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono made this known even as he expressed optimism that students will soon resume.

Echono who spoke during an interview after monitoring the Professional Qualifying Examination organised by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria declared that President Muhammadu Buhari is deeply concerned about the lingering strike and wants everything resolved quickly so students can resume.

He added that the ASUU strike is highly unnecessary but the government is working with ASUU members to ensure a quick resolution of all issues.

In his words, “The government is working very closely. We are very concerned and the President is very concerned about this protracted (ASUU) strike which, to so many of us, is unnecessary. We believe there are other ways of getting things done.

“There’s a shared acceptance of so many of the issues and we are at a point that very quickly and soon, it will be resolved. There’s only one issue in contention, really. The other issues have either been resolved or there have been some kind of compromise that worked out.

“We believe that reason will prevail and the overall national interest will be the guiding principle in coming to a quick resolution. I can assure you that work is going on assiduously in this.

“Only two days ago, the ASUU executives were at the Ministry to meet with the Minister for certain consultations and we felt we needed to tell them exactly what our positions are.

“We will look at the overall interest of the Nigerian people. We know that we also operate in a context of government playing out different segments even in the University setting.

“We have four different unions making demands and we have to balance this. We understand the peculiarities of ASUU and we believe the members are patriotic enough to know when to call it quits and what to call a compromise.”

It’s been recalls ASUU had on March 24, 2020 declared an indefinite strike over what it described as the failure of the Federal Government to fulfil the 2019 agreement it had with the union as well as the issue surrounding the migration of members to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and other issues.

Meanwhile, Dr Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, has said if the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was not resolved by next week, the federal government would explore the provisions in the labour law.

Ngige made this declaration on Friday while speaking on Channels Television Politics Today.

ASUU and the government are expected to meet again this week, with the hope that agreements cand be reached to call off the lingering strike.