Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, says he has
three children in public universities affected by the ongoing Academic Staff
Union of Universities’ (ASUU) strike.
The strike which is in its eighth month has led to the
suspension of academic activities in public universities.
In an interview on Arise TV on Sunday, Ngige refuted the
claim that political leaders care less about the strike because their children
are in school abroad.
The minister said three of his children are in public
universities in the country, but he did not mentioned the name of the
institutions.
“I have three biological children in public schools. They
are in public schools; they are not in private universities. Unlike ASUU
members who have most of their children in private universities, three of mine
are here. So, I am a very big stakeholder in the public tertiary school
system,” he said.
“So, when ASUU says politicians don’t care because they have
taken their children abroad, Chris Ngige cares because my children are not
abroad even though they have dual nationality – two of them have American
citizenship; they can be in America but I choose them to be here with me.
“So, ASUU cannot accuse me of not being nationalistic
enough. Anything that will help the university system here, I am in the
forefront.”
During the 2017 ASUU strike, Ngige had said one of his
children was in a public university in Nigeria.
“Students who are supposed to take their exams and
promotional exams have been forced by circumstances beyond their control to
stay at home,” he had said.
“I have one of my child at home as we speak. Government is
leaving no stone unturned to make sure that we reach a conclusive agreement
with ASUU so that they can go back to the class room.”
After months of negotiations, the federal government
recently shifted its ground regarding enrolling members of ASUU on the
Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
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