Buhari wades into gale of varsities’ strikes as poly workers begin action Monday

Bothered by the gale of industrial actions in the tertiary education sector, President Muhammadu Buhari has relocated negotiations with tertiary-based labour unions to Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, disclosed notice of the negotiations to relevant stakeholders. The meeting, which is scheduled to hold 4:00 p.m. at the Banquet Hall, today, will be chaired by Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Agboola Gambari.

The move indicates the President might have decided to have a more detailed and fact-based report coordinated by one of his most trusted personal staff.

The meeting will be attended, among others, by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

This came as Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) indicated readiness to embark on indefinite industrial action next Monday, May 16, if the Federal Government does not attend to its demands.

Rising from its emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, yesterday, National President of ASUP, Anderson Ezeibe, explained that the planned action came after it issued a one-month notice on April 4 2022, which expired on May 4, 2022.

He said up till yesterday, when it convened the NEC meeting, government had not yet responded to its strike notice. He said: “NEC resolved that our members should withdraw their services in a two-week industrial action, with effect from Monday, May 16, 2022. We are deploying this medium to equally appeal to members of the public to prevail on government to do the needful within the two-week period to avoid an indefinite shut down of the sector.”