#ASUUPDATE Hopes of an early resolution of the government-varsity teachers crisis faded yesterday. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) suddenly withdraw from talks with the government, which it claimed was insincere. Yesterday, ASUU President Dr. Nasir Isa Faggae said the union would only return to the negotiation table after the 2009 agreement had been honoured. He spoke at a news conference at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). He said: “Our members are left with no other choice than to prosecute this strike to its logical conclusion. ASUU members nationwide are saying this strike will not be suspended until and unless the government respects the 2009 Agreement and makes concrete efforts to implement it in the best interest of the country.” The ASUU boss accused government of being blunt, declaring that it neither had any motive to revitalise public universities through committed funding, nor was it ready to pay in full the accumulated Earned Academic Allowances between 2009 and 2013. “Rather, it (Federal Government) is talking about providing N30 billion to assist various governing councils of federal universities to defray the arrears of N92 billion owed to all categories of staff in the university system. It was a sinister ‘take it or leave it’ threat of grab-the-crumbs or starve-to-death,” he said. Dr Faggae who lamented that never in the history of ASUU has it been so ridiculed and embarrassed by governemt representatives during any negotiations, alleged that some government agents were bent on using the struggle to enrich themselves. The union also accused government of using propaganda by misinforming the public that ASUU’s demand of the Earned Academic Allowances triggered off the strike. Faggae said this has become a recurring decimal at almost every meeting the union holds with government representatives whereas, the unions always sought implementation of the funding of universities as part of the demands. “The ASUU team was particularly amused that government believed that what our members are looking for is just money to spend. Why else would the minister of finance dangle N30 billion as if it was a dole out when, in fact, that amount of money was unrelated to the agreement and the work of the implementation committee. We have said it everywhere, all the time and we still say it here again that our members have earned their allowances by working for them. They are not begging for crumbs from government. The Nigerian government owes them and they deserve to be paid. READ MORE HERE-thenationonlineng.net/new/asuu-govt-talks-crash/
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 05:38:09 +0000
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