Buhari To Education Minister: Resolve Strikes in University System, Others In 2 Weeks

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to resolve the prolonged strike embarked upon by the four university-based unions and report back to him in two weeks.

President Buhari gave the directive after he received briefings from the relevant government Ministries, Agencies and Departments involved in moves to resolve the face-off with the university 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, the Director-General Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.

Recall that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared a one-month warning strike on February 14.

Besides, other staff unions in the system also withdrew their services over the alleged inability of the federal government to meet up with their demands.

Other unions that joined the 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.

President Buhari summoned the Tuesday meeting to receive a briefing from the government team while the strike has lingered for too long.

The President 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.