Groups Beg ASUU To Call Off Strike

As the Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) and the Federal Government failed to
reach an agreement, the strike embarked on
by the university lecturers continued, with no
end in sight since negotiations have been cut
off, several Nigerians, corporate and civil society groups have begun to mount pressure
on the union to reason with the government
on its funding demands so that the lingering
strike can come to an end. The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations of
Nigeria (CCSON) in its appeal urged the ASUU
members not to be insistent on the funding
demands for the university system as a way to
resolve the current negotiations deadlock with
the government. ASUU had insisted on the implementation of
the 2009 Agreement and the 2012
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), both
of which stipulate that the government would
release N1.4 trillion for the sector in the next
three years, but the FG’s offer is way off the amount both parties agreed on four years ago,
prompting ASUU to label the government as
‘deceitful’. In a statement issued after an emergency
meeting in Abuja at the weekend, CCSON
expressed concern at the declining rate of the
education sector and called on the warring
parties to urgently work on a resolution to
save the sector from further decline. In the statement signed by the National
Coordinator, Mr. Temitope Fadahunsi and
National Secretary, Mr. Ahmed Yahaya, CCSON
disagreed with ASUU that Tertiary Education
Trust Fund (TETFund) was not doing enough
for the universities. “The issue ASUU is fighting for boils down to
proper funding and what Nigerians need is for
the tertiary education sector to function
optimally, we implore ASUU to be logical in
their argument on some issues as regards the
betterment of education in Nigeria”, it read. “We are of the opinion that ASUU is fighting a
good fight which is for the proper funding of
the education sector, but the continued strike
going into its third month is not to say that
government has not been doing anything at
all in the education sector,” the statement added. In the same vein, the National Association of
Nigerian Students (NANS), Zone B has
expressed dismay over the non-resolution of
the industrial action that led to the closure of
public universities. But the NANS Zone B comprising federal
universities in South-east and South-south
states, in a communiqué issued at the end of
its council meeting at Michael Okpara
University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State,
said both the federal government and the university teachers should consider the plight
of students and make concessions “so that
students can resume their normal academic
activities”.