Ngige Shocked By ASUU Strike, Says Action Will Soon Be Called Off

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige Tuesday assured that the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, would be called off soon, saying it was taken aback by the renewed action which the university teachers embarked on February 14, 2022.

ASUU, however, insisted that the suspension of the strike would depend on the government’s readiness to meet its demands, especially the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, UTAS), as payment platform.

Addressing the resumed conciliation meeting with the union on Tuesday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, said government was surprised ASUU negated the understanding and assurances it gave through the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria , Rev. Supo Ayokunle.

Ngige, who was in Botswana for the meeting of the African Regional Labour Administrative Centre (ARLAC) when ASUU declared the warning strike, said he thought the university teachers and their employer, the Ministry of Education, would have resolved the areas of disputes within days.

“I sincerely thought ASUU and the Ministry of Education would have resolved the issues, which hopefully are not major areas of dispute, warranting industrial action. To my surprise, I came back , and the strike is still on. Be that as it may, it is the mandate of my Ministry to apprehend industrial disputes wherever they occur and we have apprehended this.

“From this negotiation, we are having today (Tuesday), ASUU will appreciate that government means no harm. This is because even if there are still lapses in implementation of agreement , they are not such that will lead to industrial action. To that extent, we have to do everything possible to resolve this.

“ But I must tell you that on the government side, they were  taken by surprise because before then, NIREC met with you, ASUU, and reported to  the President. Having met with you and having given the details of their meeting with you, we sincerely hoped we won’t again take this route of industrial action. So , the government side is taken by surprise- Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance and all are taken aback.”

Ngige  however assured that, the  strike had been apprehended by his Ministry and that the ongoing conciliation would prepare ground for an expanded meeting which will involve NIREC.

“It is my mandate to apprehend industrial disputes and this has been apprehended, so we can discuss, and later expand to what is called tripartite plus meeting, involving members of NIREC who are top religious and traditional rulers, we cannot push aside. And that is as soon as we are done and agree on issues here,” he said.

The Minister expressed optimism that the strike would be called off soon to enable  students go back to school.

ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, in his speech, blamed the Federal Government for the ongoing strike, alleging that apart from not implementing the 2020 MOA, government also failed to convene the regular implementation monitoring meeting as agreed.

ASUU insisted that calling off the industrial action depended entirely on the Federal Government as members were determined not to shift ground until their demands were met.

Source: Vanguard

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