Adamu Adamu, the minister of education for Nigeria, on Thursday, August 18, denied receiving a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari ordering the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its current strike in two weeks.
In contrast to what Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and employment, told the media, Adamu claimed President Buhari urged him to handle the problems as quickly as possible.
ASUU and government representatives met on Tuesday after the union’s president, Emmanuel Osodeke, announced that the government had agreed to use UTAS as the venue for paying lecturers and suspending the strike.
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Since February 14, the ASUU has been striking in protest of the federal government’s refusal to comply with its demands regarding lecturers’ pay and benefits, increased university funding, and the adoption of UTAS in place of the preferred payment system, Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Adamu said he will not give in to ASUU’s demand that their members be paid the backlog of salaries withheld during the six months that they were on strike, noting that it is the penalty for their action even though Tuesday’s meeting between the government and ASUU ended in a deadlock with no agreement.
The minister also revealed that, while ASUU’s strike is still up in the air, five other university-based unions will probably end theirs within the next week.
Adamu argued that lecturers have maintained their position to go on an unnecessary strike despite the N2.5 trillion spent on education by President Buhari’s administration through the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) and Universal Basic Education (UBEC), surpassing the N1.2 trillion demanded by ASUU.
He did point out that ASUU has started discussions with its members about whether to end their strike as well.
Back Story
Last Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari urged the ASUU to end its current strike.
According to Buhari, negotiations have advanced and it would be unproductive for ASUU to extend the strike.
The minister also disputed data from UNICEF and the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs that estimated 10.5 million children to be out of school.
He claimed the number has dropped to 6.9 million after 2020.
This is in accordance with what he said, and the administration has also seen outstanding enrollment over the past year, particularly in states that are in the front lines, including Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Rivers, and Ebonyi states.
