The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige has pleaded with
striking university teachers to show mercy on students by calling off
their strike.
The teachers, under the auspices of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), began a nationwide strike since
November, last year, over some disagreement between the union and the
Federal Government.
Ngige, speaking with reporters in Awka,
Anambra State on Sunday, also declared that Federal Government would pay
a minimum wage, adding that things were being worked out by the
Committee saddled with that responsibility.
He said: “FG will
comfortably pay minimum wage, we want to pay it, but there must be
balancing because figures were bandied and we are asking Labour to
exercise patience.
“I appeal to ASUU and Labour to have mercy
on students and be patient. As far as I’m concerned, we have treated
Labour well. And they should also know I’m a comrade and that is why I
always intervened on matters that concern them.”
The FG and Labour representatives adjourned their meeting until Monday (today), after a five-hour deliberation last Friday.
