Buhari gave this 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.
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to end the five-month strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and three other university-based unions.
Buhari gave this 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.
ASUU embarked on a one-month warning strike on February 14, 2022 and later extended it after the government failed to meet its demands at the end of the month. The university lecturers’ union later declared an indefinite strike.
The lecturers’ union has since been 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).
The meeting was summoned by President Buhari to get a briefing from the government team on why the strike had lasted for so long.
Sources told Daily Sun that President Buhari directed the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige to be in all of the meetings to resolve the crisis.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), Boss Mustapha 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; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Ngige; Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan; Chairman of National Salaries Income and Wages Commission, Ekpo Nta and Director-General Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, has asked Nigerian students affected by the strike action and their parents to join the protest action declared by the Nigerian Labour Congress.
Sowore has also knocked Buhari for waiting till the moment a nationwide protest was planned by the Labour Union and other stakeholders before showing some concern about the strike.
"#EndASUUStrike: ‘@MBuhari in Consultation with Ministers and other Govt Officials over Lingering ASUU Strike in Aso Rock.’
“Me: The moment you speak the language Muhammadu Buhari understands, he will act. Yeye People! #WeCantContinueLikeThis," he tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.