Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday called on the Federal Government to immediately end the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which entered its 62nd day.
In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Senate President emphasised that going by the importance of education in the development of any society, there was the need for Nigeria universities to be re-opened without further delay.
He lamented that the education of Nigeria’s youths was being affected by the stance of the government while they were also being disenfranchised as many of them were registered to vote in their various institutions, but were now stuck in their homes.
The statement reads in part; “In November 2016, the Senate intervened in the ASUU strike of that time and met with officials of the Ministries of Education and Labour, Employment and Productivity and the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
“At that meeting, which was attended by the Minister of State for Education, Anthony Anwuka and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Productivity in the National Assembly, we agreed that the Federal Government should work to implement the agreement that it reached with ASUU in 2009, and subsequently, we set up a subcommittee to liaise with both ASUU and the Federal Government on this issue.
“The Federal Government must immediately work to address the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), because this issue goes beyond negotiations. It is affecting the education of Nigerian students, and disenfranchising many of them from participating in the general election. “Make no mistake; we cannot continue this system whereby our universities would be frequently shut down, thereby slowing down the education of our young people; and creating negative bottlenecks that place unnecessary stress on our universities.”
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