President Goodluck Jonathan literally disowned the seven-day
ultimatum to striking university lecturers to return to work, yesterday,
saying the Committee of Vice Chancellors (CVC) issued the deadline.
According to him, the supervising minister of education, Mr. Nyeson Wike, only made the ultimatum public.
The ultimatum, which began counting last Thursday, ends on Wednesday.
Jonathan, also, yesterday, described the ASUU prolonged strike as subversive.
The industrial action, which started on July 1, enters the sixth month today.
“We didn’t give them ultimatum. It was the committee of Vice
Chancellors that took that decision. The supervising minister of
education only passed on the decision. What ASUU is doing is no longer
trade dispute but subversive action”, the president said.
Saying, however, that government will consult on the deadline to ASUU
members, he said, “So that we will not be perceived to be insensitive,
we will consult on the deadline”.
Jonathan spoke, yesterday, while responding to an appeal by a former
governor of Bayelsa State, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha, that government
should reconsider its ultimatum to the ASUU members to return to work or
be sacked.
Alamieyeseigha made his plea at Bayelsa State Government House,
Yenagoa, during a meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state
caucus.
According to the President, “What ASUU is doing is no longer trade
union. I have intervened in other labour issues before now, once I
invite them they respond and after the meeting they take decision and
call off the strike. Atimes we don’t even give them a long notice unlike
in the case of ASUU that were given four days notice before the
meeting.
As you are meeting to resolve trade disputes, you expect the trade
unions to get their officials ready, what was expected having met with
the highest authority in the land for long hours, was for ASUU to
immediately issue statement within 12 or latest 24 hours to state their
position whether they were accepting government’s offer or not. And if
they are not accepting they state the reason why.
”But despite the fact that I had the longest meeting with ASUU in my
political history, we did not start that meeting until around 2 p.m. and
the meeting ended the next day in the early hours of the morning. As
far as the government of Nigeria was concern all the critical people
that should be in a meeting were there, so what else do they want?
”After that they didn’t meet until one week, despite the fact that
you met with the highest authority. It was unfortunate one of them,
Prof. Iyayi died.
”The way ASUU has conducted the matter shows they were extreme and
when iyayi died they now said the strike was now indefinite, our
children have been at home for over five months”.
President Jonathan also thanked the Bayelsa people for their prayers and support while he fell ill in London.
He emphasized the need for party faithful to be united, stressing
that the key to political success was the unity of the people and that
divided people bring about a lot of issues.
In his remarks, Governor Seriake joystickson commended Jonathan’s
deep interest in the state caucus and making out time despite his tight
schedule to be part of it, where issues affecting the party are
discussed and solutions found.
Govt has done enough for ASUU – UNIJOS VC
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of University of Jos, Prof. Hayard
Mafuyai, yesterday, said the Federal Government has done enough and even
shown commitment for ASUU to call-off the strike.
The VC spoke while answering questions from journalists at the end of
the year dinner and award night of UNIJOS 80-85 Alumni Group in Abuja.
He said the challenges facing the education sector in the country
over the decades cannot be corrected overnight, so ASUU should call-off
the strike.
“We just met with the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom
Wike, and we have been appealing to our colleagues and ASUU to do what
we believe should be done, that is to call off the strike,” Mafuyai
said.
”I think the Federal Government has done enough to move the education
sector forward as the ills of many decades cannot be corrected
overnight and we should listen to the mood of the nation to call-off the
strike in the overall public interest”.
When he was asked about the security situation in Jos and how it has
affected University of Jos, he blamed the media for poor reportage and
how it is adversely affecting socio-economic development of the
university and Plateau State.
‘Threat won’t end strike’
In a related development, students affected by the ASUU strike say threat would not end the impasse.
The National Coordinator, Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Hassan
Soweto, who spoke on the ultimatum to ASUU, said threat will only worsen
the situation. “If the FG goes ahead with the threat, then ASUU, the
trade union movement and civil society organisations should be expected
to respond with nationwide mass protest and demonstrations,” Soweto
said.
Victor Samuel, a law student of Ekiti State University, also
reacting, said: “With the assertion of the Federal Government, should it
sound as if we rule by positivist theory? This is just a barking from
the government as it would make no appreciative effort but make the
situation more critical.”
Adeola Oluwatayo, a 300 level journalism student of LASU, said the
threat won’t end the strike, but rather make the lecturers adamant.
Emmanuel Eca, a final year student, University of Calabar saw the
threat by government as an empty one because it has failed in it’s
responsibility.
“The question to ponder over is why the FG has continued in reneging
on its agreements? They could have averted the strike in the first place
by keeping to the terms of the agreement. They should stop playing with
our future.”
Another student, Macaulay Adeleye, went political in his reaction
when he said: “The threat by the Federal Government won’t materialize at
the end of the day due to the fact that it is not all institutions that
can embark on such a step and overwhelm the lecturers.”
Going by the threat, ASUU said it was evident that the Federal
Government was not ready to implement the agreement it reached with the
union.
The treasurer of the union, Dr. Ademola Aremu, said government would
only succeed in wasting the time of Nigerians and the youths in the
country if it failed to perfect the agreement.
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