Strike: Again, Ngige, ASUU raise hopes on school reopening

Asked to be specific on what  the  government was doing to have  the universities  re-open, he replied: “It will be resolved very soon.”

“We’re calling up a meeting tomorrow(today) so that everybody in the government side can report if he has a problem so that we can  address it.”

On the allegation that the government was planning a separate salary payment structure for the unions in tertiary institutions, he said, “It is work in progress. We have not given any preferential treatment to anybody.

“The remuneration is being looked at. If the government decides to raise, which government is ready to do, it will be holistically done for all university unions because they’re all in the same environment.

“And we know also that once you do it in universities, the Polytechnics will come. The Colleges of Education will come. They are all educational sector. And once you finish with the educational sector, we also know that the health sector will come.”

Ngige had told reporters that the government there was no plan by the government to introduce a different payment structure for members of the trade unions in tertiary institutions of learning.

Speaking with The Nation last night,   ASUU  President   Emmanuel Osodeke also confirmed that progress was being made by the parties.

Osodoke said: We are making progress with the Minister of Education(Adamu Adamu) who is our employer.

“Since we have been meeting with the Education minister you don’t hear public statements.  We are dealing with  him  quietly  and we  want to resolve this problem among ourselves and then go back to school.”