THE
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that any plan by
the Federal Government to forcefully re-open universities in the
country will be met with stiff resistance.The development came as President Goodluck Jonathan decided to personally intervene in the resolution of the impasse, as he summoned the leadership of ASUU to the Presidential Villa, Abuja, for a meeting today.
Read complete story after the cut.
ASUU chairman, University of Abuja chapter, Mr Clement Chup, who confirmed the invitation by President Jonathan to the union leaders, however, said anything short of a clear agenda for implementing the 2009 agreement would not be acceptable to the union.
In a statement he signed and made available to newsmen in Abuja at the weekend, Mr Chup said any form of authoritarian approach in the resolution of the crisis would not work.
The UNIABUJA chairman of ASUU stressed that the union would not in any way be intimidated into jeopardising the future of Nigerian students and, by implication, the country, through half measures or by coercion.
“The attention of our union has been drawn to some recent reports in some media, alleging that the president will direct the re-opening of all Nigerian universities with or without an amicable resolution with ASUU.
“We wish to state that while the president of the federation has issued an invitation to the leaders of our union for dialogue, it will be totally unacceptable to our members if government fails to come out with a clear agenda for implementing the 2009 agreement.
“Authoritarian posturing has never solved and will not solve the impasse. We are calling on Mr President to tow the path of honour and as a democrat, respect the 2009 agreement.
“This is the surest and the shortest route to industrial harmony in the university system and the fastest approach to revitalising the system.
“We wish to further state that while our union looks forward to an immediate resolution of the impasse, through government’s commitment to the implementation of the 2009 agreement, we shall not in any way be intimidated into jeopardising the future of our students and, by implication, the country, through half measures or by coercion,” he said.
Last week, it will be recalled, the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom Wike and the leadership of ASUU, led by its president, Dr Nasir Isa Fagge, held a meeting behind closed-door in Abuja, to fine-tune grey areas of the 2009 agreement.
Nigerian Tribune, however, gathered that ASUU had presented its position on some of the grey areas in the agreement to Wike, who was said to have conveyed the same to President Jonathan.
This, it was gathered, formed the basis of the scheduled meeting by Jonathan with the leadership of the union.
Abia ASUU chairman hopeful of ending impasse
Dr Uzochukwu Onyebinama, ASUU chairman, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, in Abia, on Sunday, expressed the hope that the five-month strike by the union would end soon.
Onyebinama, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia, expressed the hope that today’s parley between the leadership of ASUU and the Federal Government would proffer solution to the impasse.
“As the national leadership of our union meets with President Jonathan on Monday (today), we hope that the meeting will be a dialogue that will lead to a mutually acceptable, fair and far reaching solution,” he stated.
Arm-twisting tactics’ll worsen crisis —P/Harcourt ASUU chairman
In a statement circulated in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Sunday, by the chairperson of Port Harcourt branch of ASUU, Professor Anthonia Okerengwo, the union warned the Federal Government against employing arm-twisting strategies to end the lingering disagreement, noting that it would not work.
Responding to media reports indicating plans by the Federal Government to order a reopening of universities across the country today, with or without ASUU, Okerengwo said attempts to force its way into the classrooms of universities would be counter-productive.
“Arm-twisting has never worked as a dispute resolution strategy. It is unacceptable to the union that while the president has invited the union leadership for a dialogue, some overzealous assistants to the president are clandestinely working to jeopardise the process,” the statement read.
Also, in a statement by Dr Uzochukwu Onyebinama, ASUU chairperson, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, the union urged President Jonathan “to be guided by the principle of honouring agreements in the interest of justice and industrial harmony in the country.”
No threat can force us to end strike - UI ASUU
ASUU secretary, University of Ibadan (UI) chapter, Dr Ayodeji Omole, in a statement, said no threat of forceful reopening of universities by the government would end the ongoing strike, adding that it was, however, capable of portraying the government as anti-democratic.
This was as it cautioned President Jonathan to tow the path of honour by implementing the 2009 agreement.
The union said the report of the forceful re-opening of universities by the media would be the highest form of authoritarianism, which would further deepen the present crisis in the education sector.
According to Omole, while the union welcomed the invitation of ASUU for a meeting on Monday (today), it would be unacceptable if government failed to come out with a clear agenda for implementing the 2009 agreement.
‘Other unions can’t use ASUU as template’
ASUU chairman, UI chapter, Dr Segun Ajiboye, said other unions in the university system cannot use ASUU as a template to resolve their issues with the government.
He gave the submission against a purported report by Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), asking the Federal Government to ignore the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it signed with ASUU.
Dr Ajiboye said “the MoU emanated from our (ASUU) agreement with the government. If other unions have any issues with the government, they should pick up their own agreement and work with it. Why ask the Federal Government not to honour the contents of the MoU it signed with ASUU?”
In the same vein, ASUU chairman, University of Lagos (UNILAG) chapter, Dr Karo Ogbinaka, said the MoU, which he noted had been distributed to the media to enlighten members of the public, had nine points, with only one referring to the lecturers’ earned allowances.
“They have not read the documents and are speaking out of ignorance,” he said, adding that the parts about issues of pension payment, retirement age in the university system, among others, were not about ASUU.
Sambo calls for truce
Vice President Namadi Sambo called on members of the union to reciprocate the Federal Government’s gesture and shift grounds, with a view to calling off the strike in the interest of the students and the nation.
Sambo made the appeal in Gadau, Bauchi State, on Sunday, while inaugurating the Bauchi State University, saying that government had shifted grounds as part of ASUU’s demand during negotiation and, in view of that, “it is the turn of ASUU to reciprocate government’s effort and call off the strike in the interest of the Nigerian child.”
According to him, education was vital to the development of any society, while he assured that President Jonathan-led administration was committed to its transformation agenda which, he noted, would only be driven by an educated workforce.
Sambo said one of the main thrust of President Jonathan’s transformation agenda was to address all infrastructure problems militating against the educational sector in the country.
Strike political - Suswam
Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State has said that the over four-month ongoing strike by ASUU has political undertone to discredit President Jonathan.
Insisting that the NEED Assessment Committee released over a N100 billion to federal and state universities for project development, Suswam insisted that most universities had received the fund through due process.
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