Chris Ngige, the minister of Labour and employment, says the federal government has fixed another round of reconciliatory meetings with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), February 28.
ASUU and the federal government had on Tuesday, February 22, engaged in a reconciliation meeting to resolve the lecturers’ strike.
However, the minister, who spoke to media personnel on the outcome of the meeting with ASUU in Abuja Tuesday, said both parties agreed to address some grey areas in the agreement.
“Well, we wanted to reconvene on Thursday but they said that one of their trustees, Prof. Lasisi Asobie was bereaved,” the minister said. “He lost the wife, so they said they were going there Thursday and Friday. I am hopeful that we can reconvene next Monday.”
Ngige affirmed that his ministry would be meeting the Minister of Finance and the Accountant General of the Federation to iron out outstanding issues on the implementation of the agreement with ASUU.
The minister promised that the federal government would do everything within its power to end the ongoing industrial action by ASUU.
Ngige said that the federal government was surprised ASUU acted against 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, Reverend Supo Ayokunle.
“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,” he said.
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“Be that as it may, it is the mandate of my ministry to apprehend industrial disputes wherever they occur, and we have apprehended this,” explained the labour minister.
“From this negotiation, we are having today (Tuesday), ASUU will appreciate that the government means no harm. This is because even if there are still lapses in the implementation of the agreement, they are not such that will lead to industrial action. To that extent, we have to do everything possible to resolve this.”
The minister promised that the ongoing conciliation would prepare the ground for an expanded meeting that 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,” he stressed. “And that is as soon as we are done and agree on issues here.”
The minister expressed optimism that the strike would be called off soon to enable students to return to classes.
“It should not be a one-month strike. In fact, there is nothing like a one-month strike or warning strike in labour parlance. Strike is a strike. We want this to end as soon as possible, as we sort out all grey areas in the agreement as to whether the ILO Principles At Work allows for renegotiation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement,” he noted.
The minister urged the government, “to be realistic and factual,” as far as this negotiation goes, admitting that, “I wear a double cap, first as a conciliator and then, a minister of the government of the federation. We must keep to the timelines,” Ngige noted.
Ngige further debunked claims by ASUU that all the items in the 2020 MOA have not been fully implemented, stating that the ones not completed were in progress.
Emmanuel Osodeke, the national president of ASUU speaking at the meeting blamed the government for the strike, alleging that apart from not implementing the 2020 MOA, the government also failed to convene the regular implementation monitoring meeting as agreed. He insisted that calling off the industrial action depended entirely on the government’s meeting ASUU’s demands.
