The Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, has reassured the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) of his commitment to resolving issues raised in its demands from the Federal Government.
He said that the Chairman of the Council, Mr Ebenezer Babatope, had felicitated with the minister on his appointment and commended him for resolving the strike shortly after assumption of office.
The Special Adviser (Media) to the minister, Dr Nnamdi Olebara, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja. "The minister described the demands of ASUP and other unions as germane and appropriate but paucity of fund in the face of competing demands was responsible for the delay.’’
``The White Paper on the Needs Assessment Report was already before the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for onward presentation to the President for his consideration and approval as working a document,’’ Olebara quoted the minister telling the delegation.
``He also reminded the minister that the three
months ultimatum given by ASUP was fast running to an end; hence the need to assess the level of
preparedness on the part of the government in order to avert another strike,’’ he said.
ASUP had on July 12, called off its 11-month strike which started in October 2013 after an appeal from the minister.
