ASUU Strike: Don’t send your wards back to school, ASUU begs Parents

FORTY eight hours to the deadline given by the Federal Government to striking university lecturers to resume classes or be sacked, the union has remained adamant, advising parents not to risk the lives of their children by sending them to the campuses.

The Presidency, on its part accused ASUU leaders of treachery and warned the university lecturers not to dare the resolve of government to carry out its threat to sack them if they failed to resume.

The Senate President, David Mark has also cautioned the Federal Government over the threat to sack the striking lecturers just as the All Progressives Congress (APC) slammed the government for issuing the threat.
Supervising Minister for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike last Thursday gave the lecturers a seven-day ultimatum to resume from their six-month strike or risk being sacked. President Goodluck Jonathan, however, clarified, weekend, in Bayelsa that the Federal Government did not give the ultimatum, stating that it was given by the Committee of Vice Chancellors. However, the Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice Chancellors, Professor Mike Faborede denied the claim that his committee gave the ultimatum. He passed the buck to the Committee of Pro-Chancellors.

ASUU meantime said no academic activities would resume until the Federal Government perfects and implements resolutions reached with the union. The order given by the Federal Government that universities across the country should resume seems not to have any impact in the University of Ibadan. A visit to the campus, yesterday, showed that the order had been ignored by students as they did not turn up for resumption.

 A student, Bolade who did not want his surname in print said the order was disregarded because they knew the approach of the Federal Government would only aggravate the face-off. All the halls of residence — Kuti Hall, Sultan Bello, Independence, Nnamdi Azikwe, Queen Elizabeth and Idia Halls in the institution were still deserted. Though, the halls were opened, only some non academic staff and few students who did not leave the campus at all were seen.

Describing the threat by Federal Government as height of insensitivity, the academic union asked its members not to sign any register but to remain calm and stay resolute. On denial by President Goodluck Jonathan that he never issued any ultimatum to the union, the National President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge and University of Ibadan chapter of the Union, ASUU said it was laughable. Fagge said: “Comrades, can you see the unfolding drama? Now, Jonathan says they didn’t give ultimatum; that the Vice Chancellors did and Wike became their trumpet; But NUC’s ultimatum is by Federal Government to us to resume or get sacked. And Wike’s press address says “FG has directed, “NOT”VCs have directed” Be calm, stay resolute.

By God, we are on course” Also speaking in the same vein, UI ASUU chairman, Dr. Segun Ajiboye asked parents not to risk the precious lives of “our students by releasing them, saying no lecturer will teach them. “Don’t risk the lives of your children, keep your children at home because ASUU will not teach. Soldiers and the police deployed by the Federal Government will not teach. Mr Wike can come and teach in university. It is a huge joke to sack professors.

Our strike must not be in vain. Our students must see the results. It is funny; we thought we are in a democracy. I assure Nigerians that we know what the law says about the strike. Our job is statute backed. We are not threatened. We do not trust the government. The record of the government is clear. This government is dishonouring agreements. Our members are resolved to pursue this to a logical conclusion” UI ASUU also sent a text message to its staff reads: “Dear members, stay calm and remain resolute. There is nothing wrong in asking govt to do what it says it will do immediately.

ASUU is not making any new demands as the Minister is propagating. Government is only repeating a ‘one act play’ scripted by the IBB dictatorship in early 90s. It didn’t work then, and, it won’t work now.!all branches are intact. We cannot be intimidated!!united we bargain, divided we beg!!!Aluta Continua.”

 Don’t dare Govt, Presidency warns

 Meanwhile, the Presidency yesterday accused the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU of treachery, just as it warned the university lecturers not to dare the resolve of government to carry out its threat to sack them if they failed to resume. According to the Presidency, ASUU leaders have gone contrary to the desire of majority of their chapters who have voted and agreed to end the strike because of the personal intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan, even as it boasted that it was joking with the threat of sacking the lecturers. Addressing Journalists yesterday in Abuja, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe said that ASUU leadership came into negotiation with a mindset that betrayed what he termed, lack of understanding that the nation and the government were a continuum.

Asked whether the Federal Government can fill the vacancies if the lecturers were indeed sacked, he retorted: “Do you think the government is joking?” Okupe who noted that the 13-hour meeting Jonathan held with ASUU ended with a definite agreement and resolutions acceptable to the ASUU leadership, however stressed that the leadership of ASUU was expected to consult with its members nationwide and report back to government within one week. “The ASUU leadership rather than take its responsibility seriously, wasted seven days before scheduling a meeting. When the meeting eventually held the leadership decided to thwart and undemocratically override the expressed will of majority of its chapters to call off the strike. This action is contrary to established practice and procedure of any democratic labour institution, which ASUU is expected to be.”

The Secretary-General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors in a text message to Vanguard, last night, said: “The Committee of Pro-Chancellors (CPC), issued the ultimatum, not the Committee of Vice-Chancellors (CVC).”  

Mark cautions FG over threat

Senate President, David Mark has also cautioned the federal government on the use of threat to solve the lingering crisis with ASUU. The Senate President for the umpteenth time also pleaded with ASUU to reconsider their position and return to classes to salvage the already battered education sector from further deterioration.

Senator Mark who advised the Federal Government not to use the sledgehammer on ASUU on account of the five months strike when he commissioned a lecture theatre for the School of management sciences at the Kano state polytechnic donated by Senator Kabiru Gaya, pleaded with the teachers to resume classes while negations continue. He said, “We have reached a situation where hardline positions would worsen the situation.

My plea to ASUU is to resume classes while negotiation continues. The strike has done enough damage to our universities. They have also made their point and I think we should reason together and end this matter. “Nobody, including the university teachers themselves can be said to be enjoying this crisis. It is a huge cost on government, parents, the management, staff and students of the universities.

Beg FG not ASUU - Fagge

DR Nasir Fagge, National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has urged Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government to honour the agreement it signed with the union.

Fagge told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone in Lagos that Nigerians should stop appealing to the union to call off its strike.

Fagge stressed that rather than prevailing on ASUU to call off the strike, Nigerians should look at its demands and see their relevance to national development.

``Why is it that when issues like this come up, Nigerians will start begging ASUU to call off strike in the interest of the children and the country in general, rather than prevailing on government. ``I want to state here that we have a lot of respect and appreciate the concern of all Nigerians who have prevailed on ASUU to reconsider its stand and call off the strike. ``But sincerely, I think if people really care about this country and want to move it forward, they should refocus their thinking to government and prevail on them to implement the agreement and then we can start from there.

``The National Assembly had in the time past appealed to us to bend over and we did in the interest of the country-- while negotiations lasted-- but look at what is happening now!`` he said.

The ASUU president noted that when the union embarked on strike in 2011 over the same demands, the same appeal came from concerned Nigerians, with the assurance that the matter would be looked into urgently and its demands met.

He said that because of the need to respect the views of these Nigerians and to keep the system going, the union called off the strike and that, unfortunately, nothing was done about it.

``We shall no longer be coerced into calling off the strike and returning to classes because the last time we had such a strike was in 2011-- when I was the Vice-President-- and two years after, we have embarked on another strike over the same issue.

``I think as a nation, there is need for us to try and do the right thing by way of extracting commitment from our leaders because we cannot continue this way.

``Our system is getting bad every day to the extent that when we go out with our certificates, it no longer commands the respect it ought to, and that is why we must do all we could to re-engineer the system.
``You know that if products from our universities continue to study with little or non-existent infrastructure in place, as it is obtained today, they will fail to deliver and the entire responsibility falls back on our shoulders, `` Fagge said.

According to him, ASUU is committed to deliver on its mandate in order to produce students who are well equipped and see them contribute positively to national development. He noted that it was on this premise that Nigerians must prevail on government to do the right thing once and for all. ``Everyone knows that our universities cannot compete, even with universities within Africa, let alone those in the larger world.
``Today, we witness brain drain from the system on the part of lecturers, thereby exporting values to other countries’ economy.

``We should ask ourselves why Nigerians before now did so well abroad in different fields of endeavour and these are products from the same system that currently produces graduates who are largely seen as unemployable. ``We must show commitment and be proactive in addressing the rot in our university system, so that at the end of the day, our products will be able to compete favourably with their counterparts in other climes, `` he said.

The ASUU boss then appealed to the Federal Government to implement the agreement in order for the country to move forward.

NAN reports that ASUU had on June 30, embarked on what it described as ``total, comprehensive and indefinite strike`` in public universities across the country.

The lecturers were agitating the non-implementation of some sections of an agreement they entered into with the Federal Government in 2009. (NAN)