The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday raised an alarm, saying that she was unnecessarily being demonised over the Academic Staff Union of Universities’, ASUU, strike and other issues stemming from it.

The Minister, speaking through her Special Adviser on Media, Paul Nwabuikwu, said that rather than embrace dialogue and work towards an amicable resolution of the crisis, some members of ASUU were now making her the issue.

A statement issued by Mr. Nwabuikwu on Monday said that the ASUU members were claiming that Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala instigated the Federal Government to adopt a take-it-or-leave-it approach in its negotiations with the union.

The statement emphasised that, contrary to reports, the Federal government’s approach to resolving the crisis was focused on positive engagement and achieving sustainable solutions to the challenges facing higher education in the country.

The statement made reference to President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent appeal to ASUU, during the commissioning of the Engineering College of Afe Babalola University (ABUA) in Ekiti on Saturday; where he called on the union to call off the strike in the interest of suffering students and parents.

The Minister, in the statement, alleged that, despite the President’s best intentions, some members of ASUU had for several days been distributing pamphlets and flyers, containing abusive and inflammatory messages against her, in mosques and other religious places of worship in the Northern part of the country.
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