Minister of Labour and Employment , Chris Ngige , has expressed optimism that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities will accept the new offer by the Federal Government and end the eight -month strike which began in March .
He urged ASUU to hasten consultations with its members in order to return to the negotiation table before Friday .
“I feel that even this offer is one of the best they have ever gotten since I started conciliation with them . I do not see why they should not accept it. Everything they asked for has been granted . I don ’t think they should say the offer is not good.
“But I told them before they left that asking the nation and the students to wait from Friday to Friday is unfair , they should come back to us by Tuesday . They have done that before when we negotiated with the Senate President . The offer was made on a Thursday and they came back to us on a Tuesday .
“So , that ’s what I expect them to do this time around . If they do so , the nation will appreciate them and regard them as patriotic citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria . I expect them to get back to me much earlier than Friday ,” the minister , who spoke on an Arise TV interview monitored by
The PUNCH , said .
The PUNCH had reported last Friday that the Federal Government accepted the demand by ASUU that the lecturers be exempted from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System .
The government also offered to increase the Earned Allowances to university staff from N 30 billion to N 35 b and the Revitalisation Fund from N 20 b to N25 b .