By Ayo Kehinde
Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, Dr Chris Ngigi, Minister of Labour and Employment and ASUU President Biodun Ogunyemi, Right
Rising from a meeting on Friday, the team of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU led by its President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, and the Federal Government team led by Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, agreed to reschedule another meeting for Wednesday, October 21 to tie up loose ends in their ongoing discussions.
Meanwhile the Federal Government has agreed to pay N40 billion in allowances to the university lecturers. The first tranche of N10 of the amount would be paid immediately while the remaining N30 would be paid in February and May 2021.
In his response, Ogunyemi urged the government to remain faithful to the agreement and express optimism that Wednesday meeting would further consolidate agreement reached on Friday.
“Education in Nigeria is in serious crisis and unless we give it special attention as we did to COVID-19 pandemic, we may not be able to solve the problem” he said.
For Ngige, many of the #End SARS protesters are students, “who are being recruited into the protest. We have to meet half way to arrive at a solution in a give and take manner to solve this lingering strike”
