The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Nasir Fagge, on Thursday restated the resolve of the lecturers to continue their ongoing strike until the Federal Government meets the union’s demands.
The nationwide action which has paralysed activities in government-owned universities is now 53 days old.
Fagge who spoke while addressing newsmen at the University of Lagos, explained the position of ASUU so far in the whole process of negotiations with the government since the strike commenced.
“We are currently calling on government to meet our demands as presented in the agreements we both signed in 2009 and then we can start talking about any other form of re-negotiation,” he said.
“A lot of people are asking us to shift grounds by accepting government’s offer of N30 billion and going back to class while we reach an agreement on when the next instalments will be paid.
“I do not see that as being acceptable to us for now because we had made that mistake before, whereby only the salary component of the agreement was singled out and so we cannot afford to make such a mistake again.
“I want to make it categorically clear that until this whole agreement is fully implemented, we are not going to call off this strike.”
Fagge maintained that members of the union were determined to prosecute the strike to its logical conclusion.
He said the fight was not just the lecturers, but for the image of the country, as the body hopes the course would not only transform the universities but also make Nigeria visible on the global radar of development.
ASUU leaders regretted that contrary to subsisting operational procedures, about
75 per cent of the fund meant for the revitalisation of the universities were not going to be released directly to the union.
He said the decision of the Governor Gabriel Suswam led-committee to hand it over to the National Universities Commission for implementation was “unacceptable”.
“Until and unless the Suswam committee gives the union a guarantee that it will not serve as another means of recycling TETFUND money or divert funds meant for universities, ASUU representatives will not continue to participate in the deliberation of the committee,” he said.
He criticised the desperation of some vice-chancellors who had capitalized on the ongoing strike to attract sustainable funding for the universities.
He said: “Some examinations are being conducted under situations that undermine their credibility.
“The conduct of final degree examinations outside the campuses at UNILAG and the Lagos State University with improper invigilation under policemen cover, casts serious doubts on the authenticity of such examination.
“The same goes for post-UTME so far held in some universities. We want to appeal to our vice-chancellors to cease from further eroding the credibility of the academic profession, which the iconic status of their offices represents.”
Fagge urged parents, students and other stakeholders to call on the federal government to implement the agreement, which he said was to create a better future for the Nigerian child.
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Source: DailyPost
