Following the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)’s decision to end its eight-month-old strike, the Nigerian government has reacted.
In its immediate response, the government expressed its regret for the prolonged ASUU strike and maintained that it was unnecessary.
This was stated in a statement by Olajide Oshundun, the Deputy Director of Press in the Ministry of Labor and Employment, who emphasized that plans were in place to prevent similar strikes in the future.
The statement also expressed gratitude to all parties involved in ensuring that the lecturers’ strike was called off and that students at public universities could resume normal academic activities.
The following was a portion of the Ministry’s statement:We apologize to all students and parents, including the Honorable Minister, for this excessively prolonged and unjustified strike now that ASUU has decided to comply with the National Industrial Court’s decision to end the devastating action.
It continued, “A foundation is being laid, of which we are confident will save Nigerians from this unpleasant experience of incessant strikes in the future.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off its eight-month-old strike on Friday. We are resuming, but our demands have not been met.
After holding an emergency meeting in Abuja, the ASUU’s National Executive Council ended the strike.
However, ASUU stated in a press release that the issues brought to the attention of the Federal Government have not been fully addressed.
In the statement, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the union’s national president, praised the House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila for intervening.