The Academic Staff Union of Nigerian
Universities (ASUU) has debunked rumours that the union will today call of its
nationwide strike which is now in its fifth week.
This was made known at the ASUU Ibadan zone
press conference held on Wednesday at the Lagos State University (LASU) campus
at Ojoo.
In his address, Dr Adesola Nasir, the Zonal
Coordinator, Ibadan zone, which comprises the University of Lagos (Unilag);
University of Ibadan (UI); Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU); Lagos State
University (LASU); Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) and Tai
Solarin University of Education (TASUED), said “ASUU Ibadan zone has noticed
certain reports in the media suggesting that the current strike may be
suspended by Thursday, 1st August. We wish to say that such speculations are
uncalled for and the attitude of government either in the present struggle and
the previous ones cannot support such.”
On talks concerning a renegotiation of the
2009 agreement by the government on the basis of the financial burden of ASUU’s
demands, the union stamped its feet against such, as according to Nasir, what
ASUU is pushing for as stated in the MoU “represents the minimum needed to
begin to turn around our universities.
“Any attempt to review these demands downward
implies half measure which would not achieve the desired turnaround of our
instutions.”
Nasir added that “If the government could
redeploy N3 trillion to rescue banks and several billions of naira to bail out
the textile and aviation sectors, it should certainly not develop cold feet
when it comes to our public universities.”
In a related development, the immediate past
President of ASUU, Comrade Ukachukwu Awuzie, has flayed the Federal Government
for reneging on the agreement duly signed with ASUU on how to improve Nigeria’s
university education.
He asked Nigerians to hold the Federal
Government responsible for the prolonged strike by universities lecturers as
well as the decay in the system.
In another development, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has appealed to parents of students to bear with government as it intensifies negotiation with the striking members of ASUU with a view to ending the month-long strike.
In another development, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has appealed to parents of students to bear with government as it intensifies negotiation with the striking members of ASUU with a view to ending the month-long strike.
Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, who
briefed State House correspondents after the weekly meeting of the council in
Abuja on Wednesday, expressed government’s worries about the continued downing
of tools by the university lecturers and the consequent disruption of academic
calendar, stressing that government would expedite action to end it.
Meanwhile, ASUU has asked the Federal
Government to sack the Minister of State for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike,
alleging that he had abandoned “his duty post for politics.”
ASUU, Ilorin Zone, made the demand when its
coordinator in the zone, Dr Ayan Adeleke, addressed newsmen in Ado Ekiti on
Wednesday.
Adeleke, who alleged that “the involvement of
the Minister of State for Education in the Rivers State crisis is an example of
recklessness and abandonment of serious national issues for pecuniary
pursuits.”
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