President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to end the lingering strike which has been on since February 14.

Buhari, who has joined the long list of Nigerians, including religious leaders and several interest groups that had called for an end to the strike and a quick resolution to the dispute between the Federal Government and ASUU, urged the union to consider the plight of the students.

The appeal was made by President Buhari at the 19th National Productivity Day Celebration and Conferment of National Productivity Order of Merit Award, which was held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

Buhari also urged the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), to exercise patience as the government works towards the resolution of the crisis.

The president during his speech recalled his February 1 directive to his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu and Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, to address the concerns of the striking aggrieved workers’ unions.

What you should know

Recall that on February 14, ASUU embarked on a 4-week total and comprehensive strike to press home their unresolved demands on the federal government.
Some of the lecturers’ demands include funding for the revitalisation of public universities, payment of earned academic allowances, adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a preferred payment option, instead of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and payment of promotion arrears.
Others are the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement and the resolution of inconsistencies in the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The union on March 14, extended the industrial action by another 2 months, hinging it on the lack of seriousness on the part of the federal government to address the issues.
Several attempts at negotiations between the union and the federal government have proven futile with both sides accusing each other of insincerity and unseriousness.
ASUU on May 9, further extended its ongoing strike by another 12 weeks, to give the government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.

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