BEING THE TEXT OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE ADDRESSED BY THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF NANS, COMRADE YINKA GBADEBO TODAY 11TH SEPTEMER, 2013 IN LAGOS. All Protocols duly observed. It owes me a pleasure to welcome you all to this all important press conference aimed at addressing salient issues confronting the Education sector vis-à-vis lingering issues between the Academics Staff Union of Universities ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria as it affects us as Nigerian Students and its attendant consequence on our Nation at large. It should be noted that it is a globally acceptable fact that Education remains the key ingredient to the development of any society as this cannot be divorced from the success stories of nations that have developed across the world. For over two months, Nigeria Universities have remained closed owned to an indefinite strike declared by ASUU on the basis of the disagreement of the implementation of a previous agreement entered into between the Union and the Federal Government in 2009. We wish to categorically state here that it has become imperative for the Government and ASUU to understand the significant position of Nigerian Students in the tripod that constitutes the University community i.e Management, Teachers and Students. It is our intention today to bring to public knowledge those facts that have remains hidden from us as far as the contents and conditions that have continued to the responsible for the Federal Government and Federal imbroglio are concerned. It is an acceptable that the Educational sectors had largely suffered in the hands of successive Government and this is not peculiar to the Universities and it is on that basis that we want to state our traditional demand that Government must be made to commit at least 26% of our annual budget to the education sector as the minimum recommendation by the UNESCO. Having taken an holistic review of the details inherent in the agreement as signed by the Federal Government and ASUU, it has become germane for us to call on ASUU to reconsider its present adamant stand on the continued closure of our Universities. We must as Nigerians accept that the problem with our Universities have developed over decade and would therefore unimaginable that ASUU with its present stand want it totally resolved within a spate of four years that this agreement was signed. Objectively, ASUU is expected to expect that the demand for an unproved standard of education in Nigeria shall continue as long as our quest for development as a Nation remains on our investment in the Education sector. We hereby disagree with ASUU on the notion that a release of N400 billion per annum as been demanded will face out the mirage of problems confronting the education sector in Nigeria today. While not celebrating the Government in an unprecedented manner had shown responsibility and concern by releasing N100 billion for infrastructural development in our Universities including State owned. While we may not want to go deep into other details of the Federal Government and ASUU agreement which are hitherto considered by us as frivolous and self-serving to the interest of ASUU alone, it is expected that ASUU must at this point bring to the fore the interest of Nigerian Students whom they have been claiming to be fighting for by engaging the Federal Government in further dialogue while returning to class without hesitation. The NANS is no longer comfortable with the attendant consequence of the incessant strike on the lives of Nigerian Students and social implication on the society at large. If cumulatively in the last 10years we have lost 30months to strikes by ASUU which is enough to produce a graduate in our Universities, then the question is what have been the gains and the potency of strikes as q weapon when Students are always at the receiving end. We are now calling on every well meaning Nigerians to prevail on ASUU to resume negotiations with the Federal Government and reopen the Universities without any further delay. We can no longer continue to tolerate this situation which has perpetually made us irrelevant at the point of arriving at these conclusions by ASUU and the Federal Government. The NANS will continue to encourage the Federal Government not to close its doors to further productive negotiations and once again use this medium to appeal strongly and very passionately on behalf of every Nigerian Students to ASUU to please in the interest of building intellectual capacity for National development which is sacrosanct to the future of our country reopen negotiation with Government and reopen the classrooms without further delay. Aluta Continua, Victoria Ascerta Comrade Yinka Gbadebo NANS President
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:23:36 +0000
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