Federal Government on Tuesday repeated its call on the striking university teachers to return to work in the interest of students and prevent further damage to the education system.
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, made the call during the ministry’s monthly press briefing in Abuja.
He said government had conceded to most of the demands made by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and wondered why the union would not budge in the interest of the nation.
“No nation can move forward if we all expect government to give 100 per cent time and effort to our problems. We run an economy that needs attention in all phases,” the minister said.
He said government’s commitment to resolve ASUU crisis was further demonstrated by its representation by Vice President Namadi Sambo in the ongoing dialogue.
Maku explained that the strike was not for salaries but for allowances, as salaries had been increased.
According to the minister, “Salaries have been increased by 54.3 per cent which is half of our monthly income but they still insist on their N100 billon allowance.
“Government offered N30 billion but after a meeting with the Vice President, government promised another N10 billion, making it N40 billion.
“Government has also promised N100 billion from Education Trust Fund and the N40 billon allowance has already been paid in many universities, yet they are still under lock and key,” he added.
The minister also stated that no government had cooperated with ASUU the way the present government was doing.
The minister, however, sympathised with students now at home and called on parents and Nigerians in general to appeal to ASUU to go back to the classrooms.
Meanwhile, placard-carrying members of ASUU, Niger Delta University (NDU) chapter, protested in Yenagoa on Tuesday, decrying the Federal Government’s refusal to implement the 2009 FGN/ASUU pact.
Police authorities in the state denied the aggrieved university teachers permission for street protest but limited them to the confines of the university’s Law Faculty in the Bayelsa State capital.
Chairman of NDU ASUU, Beke Sese, who addressed reporters, also disclosed that the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Governor Seriake Dickson quizzed him few hours to the planned protest on Tuesday morning.
Some of the placards brandished by the lecturers carried inscriptions like, ‘Not every child can go to Ghana to study’; ‘Agreement is Agreement’; ‘Government save our universities’; ‘Poor people’s children need universities’; ‘Can your child afford to go to Ghana and Malaysia, if no then join ASUU to better our universities.’
Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC) between 1996 and 2001, Muzanli Jibril, on his part attributed the incessant strike by ASUU to deficiencies in officials appointed by government to negotiate with the unionists.
He said more often than not government enters into negotiations with ASUU officials unprepared, noting that engaging former academics who have held positions in government could have been able to foster better understanding of ASUU, its strike and strategies.
Jubril also said ASUU by its tradition has been able to link significant improvement in funding to strikes, which has translated into “one ASUU strike, one major increment.”
The ex-NUC scribe spoke at the anniversary lecture to mark NUC @ 50 + 1 in Abuja on Tuesday, where he said each industrial action by the union was hinged on funding.
“Government enters into negotiations with ASUU unprepared, if the government does its part, there would be no need for ASUU to embark on strike.
“The attitudes of successive governments have not helped matters as it has made the union to realise that it can only get what it wants by embarking on strike.
“The major problem causing the industrial actions is the ‘chronic under-funding’ of the institutions,” Jibril added.
Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA) on Tuesday also in a resolution urged the university teachers to call off their strike in the interest of the students and the nation in general.
The resolution was sequel to the consideration of a motion on the ASUU strike brought onto the floor by Majority Leader, Philip Shaibu, under Matters of Urgent Public Importance.
Chairman of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Parents Forum, Babatunde Majekodunmi, has, however, appealed to ASUU members to bring their four-month-old strike to an end in the interest of students nationwide.
Reacting to President Goodluck Jonathans call in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday on the striking lecturers to bring the lingering crisis to an end, Majekodunmi in a telephone interview with Daily Independent explained that the parents’ forum will not rest until the crisis is resolved.
He said the forum had made a lot of positive moves in talking to the lecturers to maintain truce so that students who are the major causalities of the lingering crisis can return to classrooms for academic learning.
