President Muhamadu Buhari has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to consider the plight of the students and call off its ongoing strike.
ASUU is the umbrella body of public university lecturers in Nigeria.
The President spoke at the 19th National Productivity Day Celebration and Conferment of National Productivity Order of Merit Award, held at the State House Conference Center, Abuja.
The president recalled his February 1 directive to his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, and ministers of education, and labour and employment, Adamu Adamu and Chris Ngige respectively, to “address the concerns of striking aggrieved workers’ unions”.
He also appealed to students to be patient.
ASUU had on February 14 declared a one-month warning strike to protest the non-implementation of its demands by the federal government.
But on March 14, the union extended the industrial action by eight weeks, citing the government’s failure to fully address its demands.
The union also extended the strike by another 12 weeks on Monday.
The union had in a statement on Monday, said since the President’s directive was issued, no meeting had been held by the concerned officials to resolve the conflicts.
It also said the failure of the government to show concern about its demands forced it to extend the three-month-old strike by another three months.
