Following the recent meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU, supervising minister and minister of state for education, Barr Nyesom Wike, on Monday condemned the new conditions which the union insists must be met before a truce could be achieved. The minister expressed this view while meeting with state commissioners of education in Abuja. He confirmed that ASUU had given new conditions to call off its four-month-old strike. According to him, ASUU has given new conditions, after they had an agreement with President Goodluck Jonathan at the villa. He said he would meet with the president on the new conditions by ASUU. Among the three conditions given by ASUU in order to end the strike were payment of four months salaries arrears which accumulated during the period of the strike; immediate implementation of the N1.2 trillion offered by the federal government to public universities, starting with the release of N100 billion this year and the balance of N1.1trillion to be spread over five years from 2014. The union also demanded that the salary arrears must not be paid in piece meal. These were some of the resolutions reached by members of the National Executive Council of the union that met in Kano on Friday which have been sent to the federal government before they call off the strike. Meanwhile, the minister at the meeting with the commissioners assured them of the readiness of the federal government to support any state government in the development of its education sector. “We must look at best approaches in the development of our educational sector. It is also imperative for both the federal government and all the states government to collaborate, as for the ministry we would support any state government that want to develop it education, Wike said. The faceoff between the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the supervising minister for education, Barr Nyesom Wike took a different dimension as Wike, walked out the representative of the Rivers State commissioner for education. The event was a meeting of all the commissioners of education of the 36 states of the federation in Abuja. The meeting was meant to look at ways the federal government could collaborate with state governments in the development of the education sector in their various states. As the meeting commenced with the introduction of each commissioner and their representatives, the aide to Amaechi also stood up to introduce himself. Almost immediately, Mr Okana Worgu mentioned he was an assistant to the commissioner of education for Rivers State and was there to represent the commissioner, Wike ordered him out of the hall. The minister interjected and said the meeting was a decision-making meeting that was meant for only commissioners and not for aides. According to Wike, “What an insult, not even a director or a permanent secretary, but an assistant. Must we play politics with everything? How can a personal assistant represent a whole commissioner of a state in a forum for commissioners?”
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 05:56:16 +0000
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