Strike will improve education sector – ASUU

Lagos – The President, Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr Nasir
Fagge, said on Tuesday that the current
strike by lecturers of public universities in
the country was a sacrifice for better things
to come.
Fagge told Journalists in Lagos that unless
the deficits in the education sector,
especially the university system, were
addressed once and for all, there would be
no development.
Lecturers, under the aegis of ASUU, had on
June 30 embarked on what it had described
as comprehensive, total and indefinite
strike in public universities across the
country.
The lecturers are asking for the
implementation of some aspects of an
agreement they jointly entered into with the
Federal government in 2009.
According to Fagge, it is regrettable that the
strike is protracted, and that the decision of
ASUU to remain adamant until its demands
are fully met can seem uncomfortable and
worrisome.
He said that the industrial action was a
sacrifice needed to salvage the entire
economy of the country.
“I sincerely want to call on all concerned,
especially students and parents, to bear
with us, as well as join hands with us in the
struggle to right the wrongs in our
education sector once and for all, for the
good of us all and that of the country.
“I know it is quite a difficult time for us but
I also want to state that what we are doing
is for our own good, as well as ensure that
strikes become rare, as a weapon to get
things done in our system.
“We also want to ensure that there is
sincerity and respect for mutual
agreements by parties in order to attain a
common goal for the good of our dear
country,” he said.
Fagge, however, lauded the supervising
education Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike, for
finding time to meet with the Executive
Committee of ASUU, in a bid to find a
lasting solution to the protracted strike.
The unionist also commended the
Committee of Vice-Chancellors and other
stakeholders for their concern in attempts
to end the strike.
He noted that such was the spirit needed to
ensure that nobody felt cheated and that
what the lecturers were asking for was truly
for the advancement of the course of the
country.
According to Fagge, with the current
attempts by the various stakeholders, he is
optimistic that there will soon be a mutual
understanding between the parties.
“I think with the various meetings we have
held with the concerned stakeholders, I am
optimistic that there will soon be a way out
and our demands met, so that in the
shortest possible time, we will get the
required development that will make us
compete favourably within the comity of
nations.
“For us in the academic communities, we
strongly wish government should look into
the deficit of insincerity in our system,
teaching facilities, in order for us to be
able to deliver on our mandate.
“Majority of our children and wards in this
country do attend these public universities
and we cannot afford to fold our hands
and watch them study under deplorable
conditions, while those who can afford
sending their children abroad feel little or
no concern about it,” he said.
On the appointment of ministers to replace
the recently sacked ones, Fagge suggested
that it should be hinged strictly on the
basis of merit.
“We need people who will come in with
confidence of the power that be in terms of
tackling challenges; be up and doing and
would always want to come up with new
approaches to addressing problems,” he
said. (NAN)