Academic Staff Union of Universities on Thursday has said they will not renegotiate with the Federal government if previous agreement is not implemented.
After the threat by Coordinator of the zone and member of the National Executive Council of ASUU, Dr. Sunny Ighalo that the strike will continue indefinitely, a statement which he made while speaking to news men at the University of Benin main campus. He clearly stated that the strike could be indefinite if government remained insensitive to lecturers’ plight and refuse to honour the agreement it had with the union.
He also pointed out that, “It is clear that the Jonathan government has not learnt anything from the mistakes of previous governments in Nigeria that are notoriously known for fragrant disregard for agreements, due process and rule of law.
Academic Staff Union of Universities on Thursday has said they will not renegotiate with the Federal government if previous agreement is not implemented.
According to ASUU , other African countries vote significantly for education funding yearly, unlike Nigeria, which the Union said votes the least budget to education, while pumping huge sums to irrelevant projects that do not encourage research and development.
“Compared to the academics, local government councillors earn even more than professors, just as Nigerian legislators receive salaries that triple those of the professors who trained them in schools,”
This disclosure came at the Paul Hendrickse Hall of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, venue of a symposium entitled: “Education, Research and Development in Nigeria.”
In attendance were Dr Ademola Aremu National Treasurer and former Chairman, UI branch, Current Chairman Dr. Segun Ajiboye, Prof. Millicent Obajimi (former Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association), Dr. Abass Abdulsalaam and Dr. Femi Afolabi and others.
They maintained that demands for full implementation of the agreement with the government were unshaken.
At a TV interview same day, Dr. Aremu, added that the lip service being paid to the education sector in Nigeria accounts for the rot in the system.
“We cannot continue to churn out poorly educated graduates. We cannot condone the lip service being paid to education by the Nigerian government, the majority of who train their children in foreign universities. We are calling on Nigerians to rise up and challenge the Federal Government to prioritize education and develop the country. The Asian tigers developed because of education. Students, parents, and well meaning Nigerians must rise up and tell the government that enough is enough,”
“Ghana is now home to Nigerian students and children of the elite in particular because Ghana shut down the education system for two years and now they are enjoying the gains of the struggle. We may have to borrow a leaf from them and put our education on sound footing to stop outsiders from making us a laughing stock. Nigerians pay close to N100 billion to access education in Ghana.” He said.
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