•Meeting continues Tuesday There seems to be no end in sight to the lingering strike embarked upon by university lecturers, as meetings held during the week, between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, ended in a stalemate. As a result of the failure by the federal government and ASUU to reach a common ground, both parties agreed to meet again on Tuesday, 13th of August 2013, to continue with discussions with the aim of ending the plight of university students, who have been on “forced vacation”, for over a month. The bone of contention has been the volte-face by the federal government to renegotiate the letter and spirit of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, and the latter’s insistence that the said pact must be honoured, at least to demonstrate commitment to turning around the fortunes of tertiary education in the country. It would be recalled that the meeting earlier scheduled to hold at the Benue State governor’s lodge, Asokoro, Abuja, did not achieve any meaningful result, as the federal government’s sub-committee on NEEDS’ assessment on the Implementation of infrastructure in universities, failed to submit its report. In the face of this set back, ASUU president, Dr. Nasir Fagge’s declared that the union would not call-off its strike, unless contentious issues that necessitated the action, were addressed to the letter. Fagge frowned at those urging ASUU to suspend the ongoing labour dispute with the federal government, while dialogue continued, insisting that such benevolence was what brought the education sector to its current sorry state. He, therefore, vowed to sustain the momentum of the disruption, until government did the needful. Speaking in the same light, chairman of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) branch of ASUU, Dr. James Okpiliya, said the lecturers remained irrevocably committed to total implementation of the 2009 agreement. “The strike will be suspended as soon as our agreement with the federal government of Nigeria is implemented. Also on Tuesday, chairman of the NEEDS’ assessment committee and Governor of Benue State, Dr. Gabriel Suswan, held a closed-door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. Suswam, who expressed optimism that there was going to be light at the end of the tunnel, pledged that his committee would adopt enduring measures that would address the infrastructure deficits in the nation’s ivory towers. Also present at the villa meeting were, the Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i and their counterpart in the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu. Addressing journalists after the meeting with President Jonathan, Rufai pleaded with ASUU to calloff its strike, in the interest of Nigeria. “I have not been mandated to speak to journalists on the matter but I can tell you that we are on course. I will only appeal to ASUU to call off the strike in the interest of the nation,” she said.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 05:59:24 +0000
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