Update on ASUU Strike
Nothing is new about the ASUU strike, I have done what Napoleon could not do, Says Ngige
Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, has claimed that he has done what few others can’t to prevent the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from the strike.
Ngige also brushed off suggestions that he is to be blamed for the union’s protracted strike.
The Minister said yesterday on Silver Bird Television Live Interview Program that he has successfully mediated 1683 industrial disputes since taking office in 2015, and that he has gone above and beyond his statutory responsibilities to prevent strikes and ensure that action is quickly suspended when workers’ unions force it.
Ngige also claimed that his office’s tireless efforts toward a peaceful national industrial environment, as well as his sleepless nights as a parent whose children are also enrolled in public universities and who bear the brunt of the ASUU strike, are being harmed by an erroneous perception of his role as a conciliator among some Nigerians, as well as the uncooperative, anti-labor attitude of ASUU leadership.
The Minister of Labour believes that the function of the Minister of Labour is to mediate conflicts, not to carry out agreements agreed with parties.
“However, if conciliation fails, it is stated by section 9 and 14 of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap T8 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria to send the outcome of the negotiation to the Nigerian National Industrial Court” (NICN) and Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP)
“I’m the mediator in the ongoing ASUU squabble. I take them to the Ministry of Finance to negotiate with their employers, the Ministry of Education and the National University Commission, as well as IPPS, the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation.
“What is unique, though, is that I have accomplished what Napoleon was unable to. The ASUU leadership can be questioned.
“ I did it,” says Ngige. I did the same for doctors and other health professionals who work under the auspices of JOHESU. When the President appointed me in 2015, I pledged that the period of accords gathering dust would come to an end, and I have kept my word. I work strange hours, late at night, and sometimes early in the morning to make sure things run well.
