Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment says the Federal Government is not silent on the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Ngige, who fielded questions from State House journalists on Wednesday, said the government’s team made up of representatives from the office of the chief of staff to the president, ministries of finance, labour/employment and education will meet on Thursday, June 23 to review the Federal Government’s position on the ASUU strike.
Ngige recalled several efforts made by both parties to reach an agreement on the union’s demands, saying they have continued to hold talks to resolve all outstanding issues
“Ministry of education engaged them on the issue of 2009 agreement, which is the renegotiation of the condition of service emolument, their remuneration allowances, salaries, income and wages”
“There was a tripartite meeting, based on a presidential directive that the chief of staff, myself, the ministry of finance and education to find a solution to the issues, that meeting held in the banquet hall, and we gave an instruction again for them to go back and come back with their terms.
“So as I speak to you, as the arbitrator or conciliator-in-chief, I have not received back any of the reports from education, from salaries, incomes and wages, nor from ASUU, because they’re supposed to report to me. I have not gotten any report.
“But on the government side, we’re calling for a meeting on Thursday so that everybody from the government side can report if there is a problem, so we know how to address it.
“So it is not true that nobody is talking to ASUU, we are talking to ASUU, said Ngige.
The minister said other unions have been accusing the government of giving ASUU preferential treatment, adding that “this is because these other unions have claimed that they have developed their own payment platform. And they will not use your UTAS even if it is good. They have put it down in writing and say they have developed their own platform.
Ngige said the government has directed NITDA to tests the three platforms and rate all of them and give back reports.
“Their term expired last Friday, the time they were given. That’s why we’re calling on them to come and brief us. So from your question, you can see that the situation like the minister of information told you two weeks ago, is very complex, but we are navigating it, we are taking it step by step.
Read also: ASUU strike more complicated than Nigerians think – FG
He stated that the government does not want to “ruffle feathers”, adding that “we are interested in our children going back to school”
“If ASUU and other unions in the university system want to comply with the labour laws of the country, once I have apprehended a dispute and brought it to my table, you return to what is called status quo ante.
“You go back to work and start teaching your student while this is a work in progress. Even as they have abandoned their job and their children at home, discussions and work is still going.
“It is a work in progress. So they should have stayed back to work while we are doing all this. So this is the solution with the ASUU and other unions’ issues. We have not given any preferential treatment to anybody,” he said.
The remuneration being looked at, if the government decides to raise it, which the government is ready to do, it will be holistically done of all university unions because they’re all in the same environment,” Ngige said.
