Nigerian Government hopes striking University lecturers return to class

The Federal Government on Thursday expressed the possibility that the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) would suspend its going nationwide strike.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Clement Illo, told newsmen in Abuja that government was positive that ASUU would resolve the crises soon.

It would be recall that a meeting with ASUU, convened by the Senate President, the Committee on Labour and the Committee on Education, among others, ended in deadlock on Wednesday.

Illo, who described the meeting as “a very positive step”, said the three-hour meeting recorded huge success toward resolving the issues.

He, however, said “it is still work in progress and we are still meeting tomorrow (Friday) and on Monday.

“But the indications are very positive that the issues will be resolved as quickly as possible. We are sure of success on Friday but if we did not, then we will definitely succeed by Monday.

“So, the possibility like I said of suspending the strike is still very positive because there is high possibility that the strike would be suspended.

“This is because the issues have been very well articulated and already, there is a focus on how it will be resolved,” he said.

The permanent secretary said government would do everything possible to ensure that the process of implementing the agreement was resolved as quick as possible.

He added that “like I said, it is very positive, why should government not implement something it signed in good faith?”

It would be recalled that ASUU had embarked on one-week warning strike to demand the implementation of previous agreements with Federal Government and the removal of universities from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).