Productivity, Mr Chris Ngige.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris
Ngige, says he will be going back to the negotiation table with
leaders of the Senior Staff Association of Universities (SSANU) and
other stakeholders in the education sector to ensure that the
current impasse is resolved.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Senator Ngige
said he is optimistic that the disagreement with the lecturers will
be resolved.
“Even if countries go to war, at the end of the day you come
back to the negotiation table,” the minister said.
Ngige further stated that he will be inviting ASUU in the coming
week, adding that there have been government side meetings where
collations are being made to ensure that all pertinent data and
pending issues are brought to the place of negotiation.
The minister said he is very optimistic that with the myriads of
options available, the matter will be resolved next week.
READ ALSO: The Issue Of ASUU Will Soon Come To
An End – Ngige
Ngige’s comments come a day after the Non-Academic Staff Union
of Universities (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of
Universities (SSANU) have kicked against the payment system
proposed by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
ASUU had asked the Federal Government to adopt the University
Transparency Account System (UTAS), rather than the Integrated
Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), for the payment
of lecturers’ salaries and allowances.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed
the position of NASU and SSANU to reporters on Thursday at the
National Assembly complex in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
“There are other unions in the university system that are saying
they will develop their own system, and that they are not going to
go on to UTAS – Senior Staff Association of Universities (SSANU),
Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), National
Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), … ASUU is not the
only union in the university,” he told journalists after defending
the budget of his ministry in the Senate.
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Ngige stated that the government was making effort to meet up
with ASUU’s demands but warned against the use of different payment
platforms in Nigerian universities.
He stressed that it was important for the government to ensure
that the concerns of SSANU, NASU, NAAT, and others were addressed
while working to ensure the return of the lecturers to the
classroom.
The minister, however, hinted that the payment system proposed
by ASUU had been forwarded to the National Information Technology
Development Agency (NITDA) for assessment.
He said, “If we ignore those people and what they are saying,
even if ASUU calls off the strike, they will close the lecture
halls, they will close the laboratories, they will close even the
gates.
“It has happened before, entry gates into the universities; we
don’t want that to happen. That is why we are taking them
holistically and going in measure steps to be sure that we carry
everybody along.”
ASUU has been on strike for nearly seven months and one of the
union’s demands is to have its own payment system separate from the
government’s IPPIS.
Several meetings between the union and the government have ended
without a definite conclusion, raising concerns on the part of
students who have been out of the classroom since March.