The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has declared openly that the Federal Government has done all it can to end the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He disclosed this information to reporters on Tuesday, September 06, 2022 in a meeting aimed at resolving the strike, with Pro-Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities at the National Universities Commission (NUC) Abuja.
According to Adamu, "In all we have been doing, our guide has been the directive of Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari, namely, that while the unions should be persuaded to return to work, the government should not repeat the past mistakes of accepting to sign an agreement it will be unable to implement. A government should not, in the guise of resolving current challenges, sow seeds for future disruptions.
"We have done the best that we could in the circumstances. After inter-ministerial consultations and rounds of hard negotiations with all government agencies, we interacted with the unions. I personally gave it all it required to resolve the current challenges. I met the unions everywhere possible with facts, with figures, and with absolute sincerity.
" For example, I directly met with ASUU leadership in my house, in my office and at the ASUU Secretariat on several different occasions, in addition to other formal engagements going on."
"To be frank with all the unions, especially with ASUU, one major issue over which the government and the unions could not reach an amicable agreement was the issue of the law on "No work, No pay". In the spirit of sincerity, the government made it clear that it would not break the law. And on this, I must, openly and once again, thank all the unions which made the sacrifice of understanding the position of the government on the matter. "
Meanwhile, a report on Channels television posits that Federal Government has also set up a tactical committee to review its
"No Work No Pay policy. This information was disclosed by Ben Goong, the director of Press and Public Relations, while speaking to journalists after the meeting.
He announced that the committee is to also look into issues of an increase in the salaries of lecturers and come up with a workable solution. Although Goong did not provide a specific timeline for the 14-man committee, he said the committee is expected to come up with its findings shortly.