The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has been encouraged by the Federal Government to end its six-month-old strike.
Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, encouraged ASUU to end the strike and open up to discussion.
The minister stated that it would be in the best interests of the students if the strike were to be put off. This was at the 2022 police meeting on admissions to tertiary institutions in Nigeria, which was held in Abuja, on Thursday, July 21.
Adamu asserts that the only way out of the deadlock is to embrace communication.
He said;
I urge the leadership of tertiary institutions to partner with the Federal Government in its frantic efforts at restoring industrial harmony in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It is clear that a stable academic calendar is required for quality education and development in Nigeria.
I also seize this opportunity to appeal to the trade unions in the tertiary education sub-sector to, in the interest of the future of Nigeria, call off the perennial strike and embrace genuine dialogue as a solution to our problems.”
Only Way Is For FG To Meet Demands — ASUU
Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has lamented how the Federal Government is failing to prioritise education in Nigeria.
Stating that the woes bedevilling the sector will not end until the ruling elite are forced to train their children in public schools.
Read Also: Buhari Mandates Education Minister To Resolve ASUU Grievance In Two Weeks
Osodeke on Tuesday, July 19, while dismissing the two-week ultimatum issued to ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari, to end the strike, stated that ASUU had concluded negotiations with the government and was only waiting for the ministers to sign the agreement reached with the university lecturers.
The ASUU President, while decrying the brain drain in the education sector, noted that Nigeria is also losing its professionals in the medical line to other countries.
Osodeke noted that the lecturers were ready to return to the classrooms as long as the government fulfils its part of the bargain.
Read Also: ASUU Restates Resolve To Continue Prolonged Strike Unless…
On Buhari’s ultimatum, he said;
As a union, we also look at history – look at past precedents, until the issues are resolved, I don’t believe we…this will not even make any difference because this is not the first ultimatum given on this strike. Remember, when the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council met with the President on the 1st of February, they also set up a three-man committee to quickly resolve this issue within one month; and that was the Chief of Staff (to the President), the Minister of Labour (Employment and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige) and the Minister of Education (Adamu Adamu). That committee didn’t invite us for a meeting until we rolled over the strike in May, that was when they invited us for a meeting. The NLC issued an ultimatum and that committee called a meeting.
