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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi Chapter has denied allegations that ASUU demanded 109 per cent pay rise from the Federal Government and vowed to continue with the industrial action even if it means its members across the country losing their jobs.
A member of the Federal Government/ASUU negotiating team, Dr Suleiman Abdul who stated this yesterday at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University said that the 15 per cent budgetary allocation by the Federal Government is grossly short of the mandatory International recommendation for funding education.
Suleiman Abdul also accused the Federal Government of avoiding its responsibility by blackmailing ASUU’s only demand for what he called “African Average” to curtail the country’s perennial brain-drain problem.
Speaking at a symposium organized by ASUU titled: Why ASUU is on Strike; Suleiman Abdul said the conditions of service in Nigerian Universities has left only desperadoes and those with passion in education to teach.
He then condemned appeals by President Umaru Yar’adua for ASUU to suspend the strike in the spirit of Ramadan as the worst dimension to the lingering problem saying that ASUU and by extension NLC have become the common Nigerian’s hope of any opposition in the country.
Earlier in his comment, ATBU Branch Chairman of ASUU, Ibrahim Garba called on the Umaru Musa Yar’adua led Federal administration to forget vision 20:20202 since government’s negotiating team had resorted to series of lies and blackmail to address the rot in the nation’s education sector. However to Babayo Jibril, a teacher with General Hassan Usman Katsina Primary school,said that teachers are willing to co-operate with ASUU in their struggle.
Meanwhile, the Vice President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC),and General secretary of the Textile Union Comrade Isa Aremu has called on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to suspend the ongoing strike action and create an environment for a renewed negotiation.According to him, if ASUU refused to call off the strike now, there is the tendency that it may loose the sympathy of Nigerians and this might lead to the strike collapsing on the leadership of the union. In a paper he delivered at a public lecture titled “Labour strikes and the Nigerian economy” organized by the Nigerian Economic Students Association, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria chapter yesterday, the labour leader drew the attention of the leadership of ASUU to the at fact thtthe problems in the nation’s educational system is a national problem which must involve all stakeholders. Aremu pointed out that the ongoing strike by ASUU has made the government to admit that there exist problems in the education sector which need urgent attention, stressing that the government must also revisit its strategies regarding the strike and negotiate with the striking lecturers. “With a two weeks warning strike and indefinite strike of 8 weeks, ASUU is recording serious casualties. “The first casualties are the students. Some have died through road accidents. Some are now engaged in criminal activities. Some within ASUU, their ranks have been broken. Some of the universities refused to join the strike and some have even called off the strike. “The most dangerous thing for a union is for strikes to collapse on its hand. This means ASUU must think of suspending the strike to create environment for a renewed negotiation”Aremu said. He said further that if the strike fails to achieve the desired the desired result, the ASUU should seek other options for achieving its goals by involving stakeholders in their negotiation with the government.
“On the part of the unions, the way forward is that they have put education agenda for discussion. Even though government has not addressed the issue, there is no denying the fact that education sector is in crisis. “Again, even as they have not addressed those issues… the gain to the two parties is that we are discussing Nigeria universities and they are 90 in number. All the parties must look at the remaining issues as challenges and not problems. “If we see them as problems, they will look insurmountable, but when we see them as challenges, we try to find solution to them”. He called for compromise between the government and the striking lecturers, pointing out that compromise is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength” Aremu said.
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