Hand in hand, the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, the ASUU President, Dr Nasir Fagge and the NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar walked out of the meeting where the officials of Government and the organised labour signed the resolution to bring to an end the prolonged strike of ASUU.
The press conference was preceded by a one-hour final resolution drafting meeting at the office of the Supervising Minister of Education, with all parties fine-tuning the agreements reached.
Addressing the press conference at the Federal Ministry of Education Conference Hall, the Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike said that today is the happiest day of his reign as the overseeing Minister of Education, pointing that after the major disagreements, the key issues have been resolved.
He said: “Today is not just historic; it is one of the happiest days of my life since I became the Supervision Minister of Education. As you all aware ASUU has been on strike for well over five months on account of their resolve to bring about a new lease of life to all public universities.
“Following Mr. President’s personal intervention in the marathon meeting he held on 4th November, 2013 with the Executive of ASUU and other Labour Union leaders where all residual issues were resolved, Nigerians from all walks of life had expressed optimism that the strike would soon be called off. Unfortunately and sadly too, this was not to be due to ASUU’s insistence that the Federal Government must take further practical steps to show good faith and commitment to the implementation of the agreement”.
Wike assured Nigerians that the Federal Government remains committed to investing resources in reviving the university system of the nation.
Responding, the ASUU President, Dr Nasir Fagge said that the resolutions will be taken to ASUU members for ratification, pointing out that he was certain that the response of the ASUU members will be positive.
He said that the resolution signed with the Federal Government captures all the contending issues raised by ASUU, saying that in the next one week, the strike would be resolved.
In the resolution , the Federal Government agreed that no ASUU member will be victimized, it agreed to re-negotiate the 2009 next year and provided proof of the N200billion paid into the CBN.
On the Federal Government’s side, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr MacJohn Nwaobiala signed, while the ASUU President signed on behalf of ASUU. The NLC President signed as a witness.
An official stated that the agreement is significant as it was signed on 11/12/13.
Posted By Oluwafemi O (@toslaw)
