Senate Urges ASUU To Reduce Demands

The intervention of the National Assembly in the ongoing strike by the

Academic Staff of Universities, continued on Monday with parties

engaging in a prolonged dialogue.

As of the time of filing the report, ASUU and the Federal Government

maintained their respective positions as the meeting went into a

closed-door session.

Chairman of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Education,

Senator Uche Chukwumerije, urged the union to reduce its demands to

only three – the funding of the institutions, university autonomy and

the Earned Academic Allowances.

He chided the government for its reluctance to honour the 2009

agreement which it signed with the union.

He said the appeal became necessary to ensure a timely resolution of

the ongoing university strike.

He said, "It is a puzzle to Nigerians that it has on three occasions

required the extreme action of withdrawal of services by ASUU to

compel the attentionof the government to the necessity of honoring

2009 agreement.

"Why endorse an agreement in the first instance if you had no

intention of honouring it? Wherein then lies the basis for mutual

trust."

He also bemoaned a situation, he said, ASUU had become increasingly

inclined to a "self righteous attitude."

He called on both the executive and the leadership of ASUU to be

flexible so as to reach an amicable settlement.

President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge, argued that the union was not

disposed to renegotiating its 2009 agreement with the Federal

Government, stressing that it had consistently failed to implement

agreements with ASUU.

He said the highest allocation to the education sector was 12.87 per

cent during the regime of General Sani Abacha between 1994 –1996.

He said since 2007 the relative allocation to education in the

national budget was 8.19 in 2010; 6.41 per cent in 2011; 7.95 per cent

in 2012; and 8.44 in2013.

Fagge said, "Government is not sincere. Government is not interested

in addressingthe problems in the education sector."