Education Minister Meets VCs, Others As ASUU Strike Nears Seven Months

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, is meeting with pro-chancellors, chairmen of councils, and vice chancellors of universities, among others.

While the details of the meeting ongoing in Abuja remain sketchy at the time of this report, it is part of the efforts of the Federal government to resolve the industrial action by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Shortly before the discussions went into a closed-door session, Mr Adamu gave a brief address to declare the meeting open.

In his remarks, he said one major issue over which the government and ASUU, as well as other unions, could not reach an amicable agreement was the issue of the law on “no work, no pay”.

The minister, who said the government made it clear that it would not break the law, lamented that despite all efforts to get the university lecturers to call off the strike, the union refused to renege on its position and went on to declare an indefinite strike action in August.

He stated that the decision by the ASUU leadership that the union would no longer negotiate with the government, as reported, must be resisted.

According to Adamu, the government and ASUU have no option but to continue to talk until universities reopen their doors to Nigerian students whom he said were principal victims of the prolonged industrial action.

Stakeholders present at the meeting include the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede; Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed; Emeritus Professors Peter Okebukola and Nimi Briggs, among others.