The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, has slammed the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, over his recent comment and attitude toward the strike embarked by union.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Tv Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday, Osodeke said, “What the Minister of Labour has done is a complete insult to the character of people like Professor Nimi Briggs, Senator Chris Adighije, Professor Olu Obafemi.
“The minister instead of looking for how to resolve the problem is busy abusing his colleagues, abusing even the Minister of Education.”
ASUU has since February 14, 2022, embarked on a strike over the Federal Government failure to fulfill the agreement it entered into with the union.
This has kept public university students at home and many Nigerians have continued to condemn the situation.
After several efforts to resolve the matter failed to yield any meaningful result, the Minister of Labour and Employment and ASUU leadership have been engaging in a war of words.
Recall that Ngige, in a statement on Wednesday, July 13, said there was no collective bargaining agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU.
“This clarification has become necessary in view of the deluge of deliberate misinformation being dished out to Nigerians by the President of ASUU, Prof. Osodeke as well as his branch leaders, calling on President Buhari to sign an agreement which they claimed to have reached with the Federal Government,” Ngige said in the statement issued by the ministry’s spokesperson, Olajide Oshundun.
But speaking on Thursday, Professor Osodoke fired back and said, “It is so sad that we have gotten to a stage where our children are lamenting at home and the Minister of Labour is busy churning out fake information and misinforming the public, trying to undermine the integrity of ASUU.”
He asked Ngige to show Nigerians proof of a claim that his delegation walked out of a meeting with ASUU members.
Osodoke accused Ngige of resorting to fake news having failed to force the striking members to call off the strike by withholding their salary for five months.