Date Published: 08/21/09
21st August 2009. Press Release.
ASUU STRIKE, LAGOS AC CALLS FOR RESUMED NEGOTIATIONS, SPEEDY RESOLUTION.
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress has called for a quick resolution of the present strike by university workers so as to save what remains of our badly messed educational sector. The party says it is making this call in view of the damage already done the university system in particular and the country’s educational system in general as a result of mismanagement and total collapse of the educational sector.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the party’s Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the AC, Joe Igbokwe, Lagos AC says that allowing the strike to continue will rub off negatively on the country’s wobbling educational sector and negatively affects the country’s youths. The party therefore calls for renewed negotiation and attendant seriousness by both parties to see to the resolution of the pending crisis.
“We do not see the reason why both sides should not go back to the roundtable and iron out, once and for all, the lingering problems strutting the country’s university system. We see the present lull in negotiation and a resort to propaganda as uncalled for and a disservice to the country’s youths. We wonder why the federal government should back off the negotiation when it had not explored all available options of dialogue to make the university teachers and non-academic staff to resume work.
“Lagos AC identifies with the reasons for the present ASUU strike as they remain central to the rot that is threatening to eat away the country’s tertiary educational system. We align ourselves with the concern raised by ASUU, which informed the present strike and state that these must be frontally tackled for the country to make any headway in its educational sector. We observe that the continued degeneration of the university system has led to the total decay of the country’s public schools and we believe that if this is not addressed, the future of the country is hanging on a precarious tenterhook.
“Also, we believe that our universities teachers need to be well catered for so as to deliver in this all-important sector. We therefore agree that the government must abide by earlier signed agreements with either ASUU or any other educational union aimed at saving the country’s educational system from an imminent collapse. It is in this regard that we frown at the attitude of the federal government, which has fought shy of addressing the core issues but promoting divisive tendencies amongst members of ASUU. We state that the present strike can never be resolved by such tactics, which is why we call on the federal government to go to the roundtable with ASUU to resolve the present impasse as soon as possible..
“However, we must also note that discipline and commitment are lacking amongst the country’s university teachers. We note that less time is devoted to academe in the country’s universities and more are devoted to pursuing private business interests, which are not beneficial to the university system. This is why we believe that while the government provides all necessary facilities to ensure the country’s universities regain their lost credibility among their peers from other parts of the world, we charge the university teachers to re-dedicate themselves to the tasks for which they are paid for. We call for closer scrutiny and monitoring of the universities by the appropriate agencies to ensure they deliver and not take their jobs as part-time enterprises. We call that efforts be made to restore the universities to their primal positions in the country and these would be done with greater commitment and dedication by all and sundry. We call for newer research efforts among university teachers as this is the life wire of university education in Nigeria.
“All said, we believe that the resolution of the present ASUU strike is critical to the survival of the educational system. We therefore call for the resumption of negotiations between ASUU and the federal government and efforts should be geared towards ending the present strike as soon as possible.”
Joe Igbokwe.
Publicity Secretary,
Lagos AC.
