University teachers said yesterday that their
strike will go on - 89 days after it began.
This is in spite of the intervention by Vice President
Namadi Sambo in bringing the lecturers back to the
negotiation table.
The teachers are seeking proper funding of education
and the payment of their N87 billion earned
allowances.
These are part of the 2009 agreement between the
teachers and the government. The government has
offered N30 billion for the earned allowances and
made available N100billion for projects on the
campuses. The lecturers rejected the offer. The strike
has been on since July 1.
The latest position of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU), the umbrella association of the
teachers to go on with the strike, was made known
yesterday by University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter
Chairman Dr. Karo Ogbinika, in a statement.
According to him, ASUU last month pulled out of the
negotiation with the Federal Government, which was
represented by Benue State Governor Gabriel
Suswam, based on the government's insincerity and
non-commitment.
He said the Presidency intervened, calling for another
round of meetings with Vice President Namadi Sambo
last week which, according to ASUU, also ended in a
stalemate.
The union said it was disappointed because it hoped
the Presidency's intervention would dampen the
tension the strike had generated; but, rather, the
government was re-echoing the same stance by
Suswam, which was why ASUU withdrew from the
negotiation.
ASUU said: "After the meeting on September 19 with
the Vice-President, it is clear that the Federal
Government is merely paying lip service to education
in Nigeria and deceiving the public on its commitment
to its transformation agenda.
"The Nigerian people should not be deceived. How can
there be a meaningful transformation when the
education sector is neglected and gradually taken
over by private entrepreneurs, including government
functionaries who are busy bulding private
universities with stolen funds in and outside Nigeria.
Can these universities be truly called private?
"ASUU is assuring Nigerians that it will not back out in
its struggle to ensure that the government is made to
do what is right in the education sector. This is a
commitment that all members of the union have
vowed to pursue to its logical conclusion."
The union said it had reported back to its various
zones many of which still insisted the strike must
continue."
Hundreds of students of Bayero University, Kano
(BUK) yesterday gave the Federal Government a one
week ultimatum to meet all the demands of ASUU or
face the wrath of students.
The students, who staged a peaceful protest, urged
the Federal Government to respect and implement
the 2009 ASUU/FG agreement.
Addressing the protesters at the BUK gate, the
university's Students Union President, Sani Ibrahim,
said they were forced to stage the protest, "because
we are tired of staying at home". "Our mates in other
countries are in school; why should the case of
Nigerian students be different?"
"As part of the struggle to fight for our right is being
pursued, I will like to salute our students for their
patience while receiving the negative consequences of
bad governance. We believe that the delay in
resuming lectures in our universities is not only
lamentable but also devastating. We believe even
more strongly that now is the time to let our leaders
know that enough is enough and we shall wake up
and say 'no' to injustice being meted out to Nigerian
students.
"We also call on the government to review the annual
budget for the education sector from eight per cent to
26 per cent, so as to ensure adequate rehabilitation of
infrastructure in our universities, including hostels,
laboratories, potable water and constant supply of
electricity.
"We are calling on ASUU to give government more
opportunity to dialogue so as to quickly resolve the
differences in the best interest of Nigerian students.
We are giving ASUU and the Federal Government one
week to sort things out and resume lectures;
otherwise Nigerian students will look for other
alternatives to fight for our right. Education is our
right and no one should take it away from us," Ibrahim
noted.
But for the intervention of the police, who pleaded
with the protesting students, they would have taken
to the streets.
ASUU members at the Adekunle Ajasin University,
Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) insisted yesterday that they
would not return to work, until the Federal
Government resolves the issues.
This was contrary to a report that the management
was already consulting with the striking lecturers on
the need to call back the students by end of this
month.
The union urged Vice-Chancellor Prof. Femi Mimiko to
toe the path of rule of law and refrain from any
desperate act of self-help in his attempt to reopen the
university.
In a statement by their counsel, Mr. Charles Titiloye,
the union noted with great concern the threat by the
vice-chancellor to re-open the University for academic
activities, despite of the strike.
The union warned that it would not allow contract
lecturers or newly employed graduate fellows to be
used to resume teaching in the school.

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