Buhari Gives Education Minister Two-week Ultimatum to Resolve Varsity Unions’ Strike

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

The end may be in sight to the over five-month old strike in Nigerian public universities as President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday 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 within two weeks.

President Buhari gave the directive after receiving briefings at the State House, Abuja, from relevant government Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) involved in resolving the face-off with the university unions.

The president was reported to have convened the Tuesday meeting to receive briefing from the government team on while the strike has lingered for so long.

President Buhari, 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.

Sources at the meeting said that the president also directed that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, must attend all the meetings to be called to resolve the crisis.

A sources added that the president commended Ngige in his efforts so far to resolve the lingering crisis with the university unions.

Those who attended the meeting with the president included the Minister of Education, Adamu; his Finance, Budget and National Planning counterpart, Dr. Zainab Ahmed; and  Minister of Labour and Employment, Ngige.

Others included the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami; 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 Budget Office, Ben Akabueze.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had proceeded on one month warning strike on February 14, 2022, while 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).