ASUU may end strike as union, FG meet today by EMMANUEL ONANI AND OLUFEMI ADEOSUN on Jul 29, 2013 | No comments Posted under: News 9 5 0 0 • Bishop urges resolution of crisis The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may suspend its over onemonth- old strike this week, as the union and the Federal Government meet today. ASUU National President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, is to lead his members to the last lap of talks with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who is the leader of the government’s high-powered negotiating team. Other members of the government team are Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai and her Labour and Productivity counterpart, Chief Emeka Wogu. Although both parties met for hours last Friday at the SGF’s office, it was agreed that ASUU should return to the dialogue table today in a bid to reach a common ground on the thorny issue of “Earned Allowance”. Apart from the issue of earned allowance for the striking university teachers, another bone of contention, according to Anyim, is the issue of funding of university education, especially the noticeable infrastructure deficits across the nation’s ivory towers. It was in an effort to address the problem of infrastructure, according to the SGF, that the Federal Government inaugurated a 22-man implementation committee on Needs Assessment Report to Nigerian Universities. It is headed by the Benue State Governor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam. National Mirror gathered that the Suswanled committee will meet with ASUU leadership on Thursday. Expressing renewed optimism on the likelihood of the striking lecturers returning to classroom, Anyim had said: “You might also recall that the implementation committee of Needs Assessment Report to Nigerian Universities was just inaugurated (Friday). “The Chairman of that Committee is Governor Gabriel Suswam. After the inauguration of that committee, we appealed to him to join us in this meeting… “On this note, I am convinced that their desire to see this matter resolved is simply because of their commitment to national progress,” Anyim said. Anyim added that the Needs Assessment was to underscore government’s sincere desire to bring the university education to world ranking. It will be recalled that several meetings held in the past to persuade ASUU to suspend the lingering strike were deadlocked. A previous meeting scheduled by the Senate and House of Representatives’ joint committees on education was botched, as ASUU president, Fagge, staged a walk-out, which they had hinged on “shoddy” treatment by the lawmakers. Meanwhile, the Diocese of Kubwa, Anglican Communion, has advised the Federal Government to resolve the issues leading to the ASUU strike in the interest of the children and the collective future of the nation. Academic activities have been paralysed in the nation’s universities due to the refusal of the government to fulfill the agreement it signed with the union. This is even as it praised the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan in widening the admission space for tertiary education by establishing 13 more universities across the country since his assumption of office. The advice was contained in a communiqué issued yesterday after the second session of the Second Synod of the Diocese held in Abuja. The communiqué, which was signed by the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev Duke Akamisoko, noted that the recent revelation by the Minister of Power that about 120 million Nigerians are without access to power was rather embarrassing for a nation at the verge of celebrating 100 years of her corporate existence. The Synod also urged stakeholders in the amendment of the 1999 Constitution to make it truly a “We, the people of Nigeria” document. The church also commended the House of Representatives for the move to introduce autonomy for local government councils in the constitution, adding that this should be supported by the state Houses of Assembly to give it the force of law. The church, however, frowned at the failure of the Senate to expunge Section 29(4)(b) which stipulates that married girl-child is considered to be of full age, adding that such action is in contradiction to Section 29(4)(a) which adequately defines the meaning of full age. Speaking earlier on the theme of the Synod entitled: “God is light and in Him, there is no darkness at all,” Rt. Rev. G. Akinbiyi stressed that if Nigerians allowed the light of Christ in their endeavors, the nation would be better place for all.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 08:42:00 +0000
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