President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to resolve the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike and industrial action by three other university-based unions and report back to him in two weeks’ time.
The President gave the directive on Tuesday, July 19, during a meeting with some Ministers and heads of Federal Government agencies playing roles in resolving the lingering crises within the tertiary subsector of the education sector.
Among those at the meeting, besides Adamu, were the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed; the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Ngige; and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami.
Recall that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, proceeded on one month warning strike on February 14, and other unions also withdrew their services after that as a result of the alleged inability of the federal government to meet up with their demands.
The three other unions that embarked on 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 briefing from the government team on why the strike has lingered for too long.
The President after hearing from the relevant MDA’s directly involved ordered the Minister of Education to ensure that the impasse was resolved within two weeks and report back to him.