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At the State House in Abuja, Buhari told the chairman and a few pro-Chancellors of Federal Universities in attendance, "I will make additional consultations and I'll come back to you."
The President committed to have additional meetings with relevant stakeholders in order to put a stop to the ongoing strike by university professors, according to a statement issued by Femi Adesina, the President's Special Advisor on Media and Publicity.
"ASUU Strike: President Buhari meets with pro-chancellors of varsities, promising more consultations," reads the statement.
The President said, "I will make more consultations and I'll get back to you," without necessarily contradicting existing policy.
Professor Nimi Briggs escorted the Pro-Chancellors to the meeting and said that they were there to see the President in three different capacities: "as President and Commander-in-Chief, as father of the nation, and as Visitor to the Federal universities."
Briggs stated that despite the seven-month strike, "the future of the university system in the country is promising," citing the University of Ibadan's recent inclusion among the top 1,000 universities in the world.
Prof. Briggs applauded the Federal Government for the concessions previously made to the lecturers on strike, including the proposal to increase pay by a total of 23.5% and by 35% for professors.
However, he requested "further inching up of the salary, in view of the country's economic circumstances."
The Pro-Chancellors also urged the government to rethink its policy of "No Work, No Pay," assuring that professors would make up for lost time as soon as an acceptable resolution was achieved and schools resumed operations.
Goodluck Opiah, the minister of state for education, claimed that the federal government has made all the concessions necessary to put a stop to the strike, but ASUU has persisted.
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