THE statement credited to the Coordinating Minister for the
Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the
Federal Government cannot meet the demands of Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) has been described as embarrassing and dangerous to
the future of education in Nigeria.
This is even as Nigerians have been urged to prevail on the Federal
Government to honour the agreement it freely entered into with the union
in 2009 for the betterment of the education sector in the country.
This was stated on Thursday by members of the Bauchi zone of the
union, comprising eight universities in the North-East zone and Plateau
State, while addressing a press conference at the Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ) Press Centre in Bauchi, adding that the statement was a
calculated attempt to blackmail the union.
ASUU zonal coordinator, Bauchi, Dr Usman M Abubakar, stated that the
union in the zone “is dismayed at the uncoordinated and highly
embarrassing statements credited to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala that ‘the
Federal Government cannot meet the demands of ASUU,’ which according to
the minister is N92 billion.
“The union views these pronouncements as a deliberate and calculated
attempt to cheaply blackmail it and confuse the Nigerian public by a
deliberate attempt to reduce the noble and patriotic cause that ASUU is
struggling for, to mere payment of allowances; allowances that are
actually a debt on the Federal Government for the past four years and
which are payable to all university staff. @smoothmedia1
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