There is ray of hope that the prolonged industrial action embarked upon by University lecturers will soon be called off following President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to resolve the crisis within two weeks.

Buhari gave the ultimatum when he met with some members of his cabinet and received briefings on the current face-off between the government and university unions, including ASUU.

At the meeting, Buhari directed the Education Minister to proffer solution to the prolonged strike by the lecturers in two weeks.

Buhari also instructed the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, to be in attendance in all the meetings in order to resolve the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said the two-week ultimatum issued by the President to resolve the concerns raised by the union is too much.

ASUU Chairman, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this in Abuja when he appeared as a guest on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“Two weeks is too long,” he said. “The issue of renegotiation has been completed by both sides. Just come back to us and say ‘we have agreed’, that will not take two days. We were told they spent billions to feed children in school; is that correct, how many children have you seen being fed?

“Nigerians spend not less than N200 billion as school fees paid to Ghanaian universities every year. Government should prioritise education as number one in the country because all of us must pass through the school,” he said.