There appears to be hope for students of public universities in Nigeria to return to academic duties after having spent 143 days at home.
On Wednesday, the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said they were making progress on issues of contention that led to the strike.
All relevant government agencies working on the issues in dispute are expected to meet in Abuja on Thursday to harmonise their positions.
Their positions will be presented to the Ibrahim Gambari-led committee mandated by President Muhammadu Buhari to bring an end to the strike by all the industrial unions in the universities.
The committee is made up of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the National Salaries and Wages Income Commission, the National University Commission, National Universities Commission (NUC) and the striking unions.
ASUU began its strike on February 14 before the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU) joined in the Action.
The common issues the unions want the government to address before they could return to work are salaries and entitlements.