Skip to main content

(ASUU) - A plot by Government to allow their private Universities to thrive

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused agents of the Federal Government of executing a well-planned plot to decimate the Nigerian public university system to allow their privately owned ones to thrive.

The union, however, said it would not fold its hands and allow such a plot to succeed.

It insisted that if strike remained the only language understood by the government, it would continue to speak it.

The Port Harcourt zone of ASUU, in a position paper read by its Zonal Coordinator, Stanley Ogoun, at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education on Tuesday, identified persons and institutions frustrating their efforts for peaceful resolution of the issues.

Ogoun said the agents of the ministries of finance, the Office of the Accountant-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and particularly the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Sunny Echono, were obstacles to resolving the problems.

He further said the Minister of Labour and Productivity, who took on the role of a conciliator, had failed, lamenting that even the intervention of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari had yielded no results.

He appealed to members of the public to disregard claims by the government that it had paid ASUU N50billion in Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) Revitalisation Funds.

Insisting that the money had not been paid, Ogoun said the arrears of EAA up to 2019, which the government promised to pay that led to the suspension of ASUU’s last strike had remained unpaid.

He said the signing of the 2009 renegotiated agreement; the adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and the urgent need to amend the Act establishing the National Universities Commission (NUC) remained the burning issues.

Ogoun said amending the Act would tame state governors from indiscriminately establishing new universities while abandoning the existing ones.

He said: “You should be aware of the deliberate and well-planned efforts to decimate the Nigerian public university system so that private ones can thrive.

Why are they afraid of competition. Let both exist side-by-side and let us see what becomes of such private-sector holdings in the educational sector.

“They are welcome development but public individuals, who intend to float such educational outfit must not use their positions in government to drive the death of publicly owned institutions to pave way for their private endeavours.

“Sadly, the public schools at the primary and post-primary levels have become comatose. Our universities must not be deliberately driven along the same dead-end for theirs to thrive.

“We will continue to resist all attempts at pricing university education out of the reach of the ordinary Nigerian via a tuition regime as the Ondo State test case”.

ASUU’s chairmen present at the gathering were, Uzoma Chima, University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT); Tonbara Kingdom, Niger Delta University (NDU); Emmanuel Ekwulo, Rivers State University (RSU); Joseph Endurance, Ignatus Ajuru University of Education (IAUE); Socrates Ebo, Federal University, Otuoke (FUO) and Donny Sigah, University of Africa, Toru-Orua.

Culled: The Nation 

Comments

Post a Comment

Type your comments here

Popular posts from this blog

FG DECLARES BANDITS AS TERRORIST

Finally, FG declares bandits as terrorists. The Federal Government of Nigeria, has declared bandits as terrorists, The PUNCH has learnt. After weeks of footdragging, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), gazetted a court judgement that ordered the government to declare bandits as terrorists. States in the North-West geopolitical zone including Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna have been ravaged by banditry in the last year. The nefarious activities of the marauders have also spilt into the North Central and other zones in the country. The bandits have killed hundreds of innocent persons, kidnapped several others including schoolchildren, with some still in their custody, while some are nursing injuries sustained during the attacks. Court in Abuja on November 25, 2021, had granted an ex parte application by the Federal Government for Yan Bindiga (Hausa word for gunmen) and Yan Ta’adda (Hausa word for terrorists) to be declared as terror...
2 comments
Read more

National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS Vows To Extend Protest

The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, yesterday halted activities at the Murtala Muhammad Airport, Ikeja, in protest against the continued strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, which has kept students at home for over seven months. The students’ body also vowed to extend the protest to the Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island ports and the Third Mainland Bridge today. On February 14, 2022, ASUU commenced a strike action to protest the Federal Government’s failure to meet the demands of its members.  Amongst which is the non fulfillment by the Federal Government of an agreement it signed with the government in 2009 on Earned Allowances and replacement of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, and University Transparency and Accountability Solution, UTAS.
3 comments
Read more

Crisis In Ukraine/Russia - Nigerian Government To Airlift Nigerians, Evacuation Begins Wednesday

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, in an interview on Channels Television’s programme, ‘Politics Today,' indicated that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved funds for the airlines to evacuate Nigerians. The minister said, “I have been in touch with the ambassador. There are about 150 of them who are looking to cross into Russia and we have asked the ambassador in Russia to try and get a permit for them to transit to Russia and hopefully, by Wednesday we will start deploying planes to start bringing the Nigerians." "There were about 8,000 Nigerians in Ukraine, 5,000 of whom were students. He said. He also made mentioned that the Federal Government had tipped Air Peace and Air Max to airlift the Nigerians who wanted to be evacuated. Earlier on he highlighted how the crisis was being tackled to the members of the Federal House of Representatives. He stated this while giving a brief of the evacuation efforts thus far; "We made Romania the hub and over ...
2 comments
Read more