The Federal Government will meet with the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) on Monday December 10, over the ongoing nationwide strike.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, made this known in a statement signed by the Director of Press in the Ministry, Mr Samuel Olowookere, in Abuja.
Ngige said that all further discussions between the Ministry of Education and ASUU would now reconvene at 4 p.m at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The Minister also condemned a statement credited to a Human Rights Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana who was alleged to have described as illegal, the enforcement of section 43:1 of the Trade Dispute Act 2004 on the” No Work No Pay”
Falana was also said to have asked the federal government to immediately withdraw what he termed an “illegal order”.
The minister, however, said that the law of ”No Work, No Pay,” was a fundamental axiom in labour and industrial relations all over the world.
He said that the ministry would investigate the media report credited to Falana to ascertain whether he actually quoted the Supreme Court judgments.
NAN reports that on December 4, the meeting between the Federal Government and ASUU ended without any conclusion.
Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU National President, while speaking with newsmen at the end of the closed door meeting in Abuja noted that negotiations were still ongoing.
The meeting held at the instance of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu was to find lasting solution to the ongoing strike by the university lecturers.
ASUU had on Nov. 4, embarked on an indefinite strike over poor funding of Nigerian Universities and non-implementation of previous agreements by government.
Meanwhile, the President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr Danielson Akpan has urged both parties to have a common ground so that the universities can re- open.
He said they must put the interest of the country and Nigerian students above any other thing.
