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The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, stated that the Federal Government, led by President Bola Tinubu, is dedicated to resolving industrial disputes among unions in Nigeria's tertiary institutions.
In an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Alausa mentioned that the President has given a clear instruction to his cabinet to avert future strikes from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other educational trade unions.
He emphasized the government's commitment to fostering dialogue and maintaining positive relations with union leaders while addressing their demands.
The minister acknowledged delays in salary payments to tertiary institution staff, offered an apology to the unions, and assured that the ministry is collaborating with the Minister of Finance to expedite salary disbursements.
He explained that issues with salary payments stem from the government's need to process those on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) before addressing payments for those utilizing the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
Alausa assured that the Federal Government would soon synchronize salary payments across all sectors. During his remarks about the Diaspora Bridge initiative launched on Monday, he noted that 150 institutions have signed up.
He described the Diaspora Bridge as a key platform designed to connect Nigerian professionals abroad with local educational and research institutions through structured collaboration, functioning in both online and offline capacities.
The initiative is intended to allow Diaspora experts to share their knowledge and skills with Nigerian universities, polytechnics, colleges of education, and teaching hospitals while ensuring that local professionals can also benefit from the platform, which is available to all institutions in the country.
Alausa explained that universities and professionals in the Diaspora will register on the initiative’s website, with professionals volunteering their services; however, the government will cover transportation and accommodation costs for those traveling to Nigeria.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the Ministry of Education is working to streamline its education system to gather precise data from schools at local and state government levels to monitor enrollment rates, dropout incidents, and other metrics to intervene when necessary.
The minister promised that the ministry will soon enroll over a million out-of-school children and provide data concerning their enrollment.
