ASUU strike: Come down from your high horse – FG tells lecturers

The federal government of Nigeria has asked members of the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to come down from their high horses.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, who gave the warning, said ASUU was bullying National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to certify the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) developed by the union as satisfactory.

The minister said the suspension of the ongoing strike is solely at the discretion of the university lecturers.

Speaking on Thursday while appearing on a programme, Politics Today, on Channels Television, Mr Ngige, the chief conciliator between the government and the striking lecturers, said ASUU has adopted the approach of bullying government agencies to meet its demands.

He said; “The solution is that ASUU has to come down from their high horse.

“You cannot go and be intimidating people at NITDA, and threatening the minister of communications and digital economy with revocation of professorship.

“…and you go to ABU, saying you are going to withdraw the certificate of director of NITDA. That’s bullying, it’s not allowed in labour negotiations.”