President Goodluck Jonathan is claiming that ASUU has been infiltrated by elements of the opposition. He said the federal has tried its best to meet the demands made by ASUU to a substantial level, insisting that they should no longer be reluctant to go back to the classroom and perform their duties. But ASUU, on its part, stressed that there is no point negotiating what they already discussed, negotiated and concluded with the same government over three years ago. So, who is fooling who? Students of government owned universities will remain at home for a long time until the federal government and its agents stop blaming the opposition and take necessary actions. Jonathan should release N87bn to ASUU and lets see if opposition can stop them from go back to work! The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, on August 22, 2013, Thursday, described as highly embarrassing, the statement credited to the Coordinating Minister of the economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The statement said that the lecturers were making a fresh demand from the Federal Government. Dr. Usman Abubakar, ASUU zonal coordinator in Bauchi, told the newsmen that ASUU was not making fresh demand, but asking for the implementation of existing agreement, while the Minister’s position was opposite. “Contrary to the Minister’s assertion that “ASUU is demanding for N92 billion”, we wish to inform the public that the said amount is a debt, not a demand. It is a debt the Federal Government is owing staff of affected universities (both academic and non-academic) over a period of four years. The Federal Government has to pay, if it has to show signs of a responsible and honourable government.” The ASUU coordinator also expressed shock at the insincerity and antics of the government, saying the Minister’s pronouncement was a deliberate and calculated attempt to blackmail ASUU, confuse the public and reduce ASUU’s patriotic cause to a mere payment of allowances. According to Dr. Abubakar, the Minister’s comment is an indication that government had no intention of honouring the agreement, saying “how could the minister have made the claim of no money to honour the agreement when the finance ministry was represented throughout the negotiations in the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement and the MoU. What could be more dishonourable and deceitful by a government than this?”
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 06:14:30 +0000
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