The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba, has disclosed that the current ASUU strike will not hinder the reopening of tertiary institutions.
ASUU has been on strike since March, 2020 over lingering issues including an attempt to force the lecturers to enrol on the Federal Government Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform.
Nwajiuba stated this while speaking at the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 in Abuja, on Thursday.
The Minister noted that the PTF would release directive on when the universities would be reopened, saying he was also in consultation with proprietors of private universities in the country who have continued to mount pressure on the government to reopen the education space.
He noted that owners of private universities has argued that since worship centres and markets have reopened, private universities should be reopened if the public institutions were not ready.
He said the over 62,000 lecturers with more than 10,000 professors, are patriotic Nigerians who have also been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that they would see reasons to return to classrooms when the institutions are eventually reopened.