Varsities To Reopen Next Month, Says Ngige

Varsities To Reopen Next Month, Says Ngige
Chris Ngige

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has stated that academic activities in public universities across the country will resume in January 2021.

He made this known while speaking in Alor, Idemili South local government area of Anambra State, during the launch of Ngige free medical outreach at the Community’s Health Center on Monday.

According to the Minister, negotiations between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal government had reached 98 percent.

Ngige said negotiations remain only two percent to be completed between the two groups.

“We have met about 98 percent of the request of ASUU. Some 5 to 2 percent is what you can call promissory notes,” he said.

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“So, I am very hopeful that by midnight today, there are some works we are supposed to get on to do. They also have some work they are supposed to do on their own side with their people.

“Tuesday, we will meet in the afternoon and we will compare notes. We will put everything on the table and compare. I believe that we might have come to the end of the strike when we meet tomorrow.

Well, it is a journey of a thousand miles which you will have to take one step first. Tomorrow, all things being equal, we will agree now to agree because we were disagreeing before.

“We disagree to agree and agree to disagree formerly. But tomorrow, I hope we will agree to agree. Once we do that, schools will reopen in January.”