ASUU Strike as Old as Shehu Shagari's Administration, It's Endemic, Presidency Says
- Femi Adesina, a presidential aide on media and publicity has said that the Academic Staff Union of Universities strike is not new
- Adesina recounted that the industrial action that has continued to affect Nigeria's tertiary institutions in Nigeria started long before President Buhari came into power
- According to the presidential aide, the ASUU strike is endemic and started as far back as the 1980s when Shehu Shagari was in power
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The special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, has described the prolonged strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Adesina while speaking on Channels Television's Politics Today said that the president is ready to resolve the continuous ASUU strike.
The presidential aide noted that the president has appealed to the leadership of ASUU to consider the younger one while making their decision.
Source: UGC
He also said that President hopes that the ASUU strike is resolved once and for all by members of ASUU.
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His words:
“He (Buhari) appealed to ASUU to consider the plight of those young ones. It shows that the president is ready to have this matter resolved once and for all."
ASUU strikes date back to Shehu Shagari's time
Further speaking on the strike action affecting Nigeria's tertiary institutions, Adesina said the repeated strike action by ASUU did not start with President Buhari's administration.
Noting that the breakdown in education in tertiary institutions dates back to the time of Shehu Shagari whose administration ended was 43 years old.
He said:
“Last week, I saw something on Facebook that Alhaji Shehu Shagari was appealing to ASUU to go back to class. Alhaji Shagari ruled 43 years ago. And he was appealing to ASUU to go back to school.
“That shows you that this is an endemic issue. Left to the government, the students will go back tomorrow but then the issue has to be resolved conclusively so that in another six weeks, eight weeks, or six months, we don’t go back to where we are today."
“It would not vitiate the legacy of the president in any way because this dates back in time. It was there under Shagari; it was there under Buhari as a military leader; it was there under Babangida, and it was there under Shonekan - under everybody.”
He also called on the leadership of ASUU ro end the stroke while urging students to exercise patience as the Nigerian government tries to address the nagging issues across the nation's university system.
ASUU strike: We’ve reached reasonable agreement with lecturers, says Ngige
There seems to be a consensus-building between the federal government and university lecturers currently on strike.
This is according to the minister of labour and employment, Senator Chris Ngige, who has been leading the government side in the negotiations.
The lecturers have been on strike since Monday, February 14 due to several unresolved issues with federal authorities.
ASUP joins ASUU, declares two-week warning strike
Legit.ng had earlier reported that the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had said it will commence a two-week warning strike from Monday, May 16.
ASUP, in a statement seen by Legit.ng on Wednesday, May 11 said the decision was taken after its emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.
The statement was signed by its national president, Anderson Ezeibe.
Source: Legit.ng
