The Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, has been directed by the Federal Government to deploy policemen to all federal universities in the country in its bid to ensure resumption of academic activities in universities on or before December 4.
This development was disclosed at an emergency meeting the Federal Government held with all vice-chancellors of federal universities at the National Universities Commission building in Abuja on Friday.
Chief Nyesom Wike, the Acting Minister of Education, and the Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof Julius Okojie, were also at the meeting.
According to a source who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the press, revealed that the Federal Government directed the IG to draft policemen to federal universities to prevent members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities from disturbing some of their members that might want to resume work in line with government's directive.
The closed door meeting also discussed other modalities for calling off the bluff of ASUU whose members have been on strike for over five months.
The meeting held Friday from 9am lasted for two hours. In the meeting's agenda was also deliberations on how to recruit new lecturers to fill the space of ASUU members who might refuse to obey government's directive.
The vice-chancellors were also directed to call students back to campus on Sunday in preparation for academic activities which should are expected to begin this Monday.
An order by Wike had required the lecturers to resume duties on or before December 4 or face immediate sack by the Federal Government.
Okojie had already been mandated to begin the recruitment process of new lecturers by placing vacancy adverts in international journals and media.
In addition, the vice-chancellors were instructed to open registers in their institutions where members of ASUU that resume work would sign so that those who failed to resume could be sacked.
It also emerged that the Federal Government was planning to adopt the Ghanaian method where lecturers were asked to re-apply for their jobs after two years of strike.
"Not all lecturers are members of ASUU. Most professors don't belong to the union; people think every lecturer in public university is a member of ASUU, which is not true.
"Government means business this time around and it is going to call off the bluff of ASUU,'' the source explained.
Public Nigerian universities currently suffer a deficit of at not less than 30,000 lecturers.
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