The ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) will soon end, the Federal Government assured on Wednesday.
According to the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, government is also concerned and worried; assuring that the ongoing negotiations with the striking lecturers would be hastened so that the students could return to school in earnest.
He said, “The federal government has been far more worried than you think concerning the strike in tertiary institutions, because of the disruption of the school calendar and so government is concerned and very worried.
“And since the onset of the strike government has been negotiating with ASUU through the ministry of labour and productivity and the ministry of education.
“As at today, we know that this negotiations are going on and it is our expectation that this strike will not get more protracted and that an understanding will be reached soon enough to enable our students return back to school.
“Government is very concerned every time the school calendar is disrupted. It has its cost to the nation; particularly the idle time our children spend at home can lead to a lot of social difficulties.
“We don’t want school calendars to be disrupted and a lot of series discussions have been going on and we believe we should record some progress soon enough for these schools to open and the minister of labour and education will be giving quarter briefing on the progress of these negotiations”.
Maku therefore, called on Nigerians to bear with government pending when agreement is reached. He spoke further, “So we are appealing to our people particularly parents and children of this nation to bear with us, to show more understanding and we pray that this type of strike will not re occur, because the public school system suffers a lot of damage with the perennial strikes.
“The universities have been relatively stable since the advent of this Administration. The strikes that we have inherited we have tried to resolve them, and if you notice in the last two years there has not been a lot of strikes until this unfortunate one.
“And I believe we will overcome it and in the end both parties will appreciate the need to keep the school calendar stable for the progress of our country. So, government is working hard to ensure we reach an agreement to resolve this problem so that or schools can reopen”.
