Read copy of press release.
ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES (ASUU)UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR BRANCH (UCB)CALABARPRESS RELEASETHAT GAFFE BY THE SENATE PRESIDENTWith dismay, we read the provocative remarks made by the Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, to the effect that the ASUU/FGN 2009 Agreement was signed in error and therefore unimplementable. This outburst by the Senate President was made on Tuesday 10th May 2022, in his response to the leadership of NANS that paid him a visit in his office, to solicit the intervention of NASS in the lingering crisis in the nation’s public universities.2. We are deeply pained that the foremost legislator could descend from such Olympian height to the lower rung of mundane reasoning, to even suggest, that government was arm-twisted by ASUU into signing an unworkable agreement. We note, regrettably, that this is the lie that government officials from both the executive and legislative arms of government have resorted to peddling in recent times, in their crass unwillingness to fund public education in Nigeria.3. It may be necessary to refresh the memory of Nigerians, that the 2009 ASUU/FGN Agreement was the product of painstaking deliberations by a crack team of eminent technocrats and scholars, who had the mandate of government and who regularly consulted with their principals at every stage of the negotiations which spanned several months. 4. It may also suffice to state that this committee that was saddled with this onerous responsibility did justice to the reports and submissions, which were collated from various stakeholders and sources in the education sector, both within and outside the country, before the agreement was concluded and signed. 6. For the lawmaker numero uno in the country to join the now rehashed refrain that the agreement is unimplementable is, to say the least, very disappointing, and it is tantamount to standing truth on the head to fly a kite; their message is clear: the government of Nigeria as it is presently constituted has closed its mind against public university education for ordinary Nigerians.7. It is important for Nigerians to note, that the same government that midwifed the amnesty programme to bring stability to the once restive oil rich Niger Delta region is the one that signed the 2009 ASUU/FGN Agreement. Isn’t it curious that while the amnesty programme is being successfully prosecuted by successive governments, the ASUU/FGN 2009 Agreement is still being tossed like a ping pong across the table, only to be dubbed “unimplementable” and “unrealistic” by hypocritical government agents thirteen years after?8. As a matter of fact, the Senate President’s tone smacks of insincerity and deception on the part of government in resolving the present ASUU/FG dispute. The Senate President’s unfortunate remarks betray the direction the so-called “negotiations” are headed. This could clearly be deduced from the fact of his calling on our irrepressible Union to suspend our patriotic action while negotiations are on-going. He pleaded with the NANS leadership not to disrupt political activities. Obviously, that is where his interest lies. 9. The Senate president’s comments as per the suspension of our patriotic strike while negotiations are on-going, and the supposed unimplementability of collectively bargained agreements are hereby unequivocally condemned. The suggestions by him are a political trick taken too far. The political class of Nigeria needs to understand that this knowledge apartheid that is deliberately being promoted in favour of their children and the children of their cronies, who are feeding fat on the blood of the nation, will come back to haunt them soon.10. ASUU is determined this time around to wait in the trenches for as long as it takes government to commence payment of a decent wage regime to university lecturers, commensurate with those of their counterparts, at least in Africa, and adequately fund public universities.Enough of the lies!Enough of the deceits!!Enough of the tokenism!!!ChairpersonASUU UNICAL
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