ASUU must Call off Strike before we Resume Negotiation — FG demands.

The Federal Government has requested that the Academic Staff Union of Universities should stop the ongoing strike action before they return to desk for negotiations. 

This announcement was made by the Minister of Labour and Employment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Chris Ngige. 

In his statement, he said FG has been benevolent enough to have paid all arrears payment of which they are indebted to ASUU and for this reason, they have no reason to continue the strike action.

Dr. Chris Ngige with members of the Press. 

He further stated that all efforts of the ministry to reach out to ASUU to ensure they can continue negotiation and reach a conclusive end has been proven abortive due to the lockdown enforced as a result of Corona Virus outbreak. He highlighted that there are two reasons why ASUU should resume back to work. 

Firstly, the federal government have been kind on her own end to have paid all withheld salaries without any conditions attached. Secondly, ASUU are supposed to be in their respective laboratories, working laboriously in the development of a new drug, vaccine and medical kits to battle the SARS Corona Virus.

Read Also: List of Universities with Unaccredited Programmes 

In his statement, he said; “Even if schools are not open, ASUU members, especially researchers, are supposed to be going into their laboratories, going to botanic gardens to get some shrubs and other plants to be used in producing drugs during this COVID-19 outbreak.

“Those who are pharmacologists, who are in the electronics department and software engineers, this is the time for research to manufacture ventilators or make some inventions. It is unpatriotic for them to even continue saying that they are on strike at this time. They should not be saying it."

When being asked whether FG has resolved the issue on the implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information Systems (IPPIS) which is the primary reason for the strike action, he said the FG is working on resolving all glitches surrounding the enforcement of IPPS.

“When IPPIS was introduced in the federal civil service, these hiccups were there. It took some time before they were rectified. We were being thorough. When I was in the National Assembly, we were complaining but the good thing is that the IPPIS desk in the Accountant General’s Office is listening and they are addressing the issues. It will be rectified and once this is done, they will pay the arrears or deductions,” he stated.

The big question now is; will ASUU yield to this call and stop the strike action. Do you think ASUU should call of this strike and resume back to their offices amidst COVID-19 crisis? Let's here your opinion in the comment section.