Nigeria’s Education Minister, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has assured Nigerians that there will be no more industrial actions by the various workers’ unions.
The Minister said this at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka and Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), when he made an impact assessment tour of federal tertiary institutions in Lagos.
Shekarau disclosed that reports by visitation panels which were earlier ignored were being reviewed.
According to him, speculations that the workers unions in polytechnics and colleges of education (Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics [ASUP] and the College of Education Academic Staff Union [COEASU]), would resume their suspended strikes were untrue.
“The NEEDS assessment reports bothering on staffing, facilities and other issues will be addressed, and once these are addressed, there will be no need for strike,” he said.
The minister added that a major focus of his administration was teacher-education, saying “My priority is the restoration of dignity in the teaching profession. I was in the classroom till my retirement. And I hope to be in the classroom till my last day.
“The quality of education in any country is linked to the quality of the teaching staff. Under my leadership, therefore, teacher-education will be accorded full priority, in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan,” he said.
Addressing the unions at YABATECH, after inaugurating some projects completed by the college, Mallam Shekarau thanked members of the union for believing in him right from his emergence as education minister.
“I thank the unions for giving us the chance to address the issues of the strike. I wish to assure you that we have gone quite far. In not too distant time, all of these issues will be things of the past,” he said.
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