FG, ASUU didn’t know agreement’s cost implication – Maku
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku
The Federal Government did not calculate
the cost implication of the agreement it signed with the Academic Staff
Union of Universities in 2009, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran
Maku, has said.
Maku, who spoke at a press conference in
Abuja on Tuesday, also alleged that ASUU too was unaware of the cost
implication before the representatives of both parties signed the
agreement.
He also disclosed that the government
had offered additional N10bn for the payment of the allowances of the
striking teachers which they turned down.
Maku added that the Federal Government spent more than half of its monthly income on salaries of public servants.
The minister said, “One of the things
that have tormented all of us is the ASUU strike that has lasted for
over three months. The strike arose out of a disagreement on the payment
of allowances to our university teachers.
“There was an agreement in 2009 or so
and sitting allowance was listed under the agreement. As at the time
they were listed, neither the government nor ASUU was aware of the exact
figures it was going to take to pay those allowances because the
allowances were not calculated.
“In the course of this period, the
allowances were calculated and the gross began to emerge. ASUU made a
demand for the payment and government did not say no. The agreement was
supposed to be implemented by the various university governing councils.
They were also supposed to come largely from Internally Generated
Revenue.”
Maku said in spite of these, when ASUU
threatened to go on strike, government entered into negotiation with the
lecturers in order to avert the action.
He said, “We also received a report on
infrastructure requirement in the universities. President Goodluck
Jonathan promised to deal with both problems as our finances would
permit. We agreed there was the need to intervene seriously in the
universities.
“What happened under this period is that
government then went into negotiation with ASUU, put N30bn on the
ground to enable the university councils to pay the allowances to the
teachers and promised to pay the rest as time goes on. ASUU said no.
They needed about N90bn at the same time.
“We negotiated with them until
negotiation broke down. In spite of the breakdown of negotiation, the
Federal Government convened a meeting chaired by the Vice President of
the country in our continued determination to end the strike. Government
again promised another N10bn for the payment of the allowances. That
brings it to N40bn for the payment of the allowances.”
Maku urged parents and Nigerians to
appeal to the striking teachers to call off the strike. He also called
on the lecturers to put away politics from the struggle and consider the
impact of the long industrial action on the development of their
students.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor,
University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has called on the
Federal Government and the lecturers to resolve their differences
amicably.
Speaking during the 29th convocation of
the university in Ilorin on Tuesday, he said both parties should
consider the interest of the students and use dialogue to resolve the
contentious areas.
Also, President, Civil Rights Congress
of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Sani, on Tuesday, condemned critics of the current
strike by university teachers, describing them as ‘lackeys in
government’.
Sani, in statement in Abuja, noted that
the ASUU strike was “a patriotic act of resistance against bad and
visionless leadership in the country.”
He said the strike was also “a genuine struggle to save the education sector from total collapse.”
