Parents under the aegis of the National Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to first take a look at the report of the Prof. Nimi Briggs-led committee that met with the national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, before appealing to Nigerians to prevail on the union to call off its strike. The association said it is when that is done that the government would be able to know which aspect of the committee’s recommendations it can implement. The National President, Alhaji Haruna Danjuma, said this in a chat with Vanguard on Tuesday. This is just as ASUU has described the call by the President as a sleep walk approach to governance that is highly unfortunate. Both were reacting to Buhari’s call on Monday that well-meaning Nigerians should prevail on the union to call off its over four months strike. Danjuma wondered when the federal government would consider the report of the Briggs Committee that was submitted to it over a month ago. “My advice for the government is to first attend to the report of that committee and see what it can do about it. Let the government first make its position on the report public and known to all. It is when that is done that critical stakeholders in the sector can see how they can come in. “If the President works on the report, no matter what the decision of the government is, that is what what will inform the intervention of those who want to mediate. The mediators will know what to do and what to base their actions on. “For instance, if the committee says ASUU is demanding N10 and it recommends that the union be given N5 and even if the government says it only has N3 to give, then NAPTAN or any other group will know what to go and plead with ASUU for. Yes, the future of our children is critical and should not be toyed with and we are calling on all parties to find a way out of the face-off as quickly as possible,” he said. ASUU, in a statement titled “President Sir: When and why enough cannot be enough,” said the strike has lingered because of inaction on the part of the government. The statement was endorsed by Dr Adelaja Odukoya, the Chairman,Lagos Zone of ASUU. It read in part,”It is with painful and heartfelt amusement that we received your comical statement and laughable call yesterday that “enough is enough” on the almost five-month old strike action of our union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), occasioned and forced on us by the crass insensitivity, non-chalant disposition, ineptitude and crass indifference to the fate of public university education in the country under your leadership. “That all other unions in the nation’s public university system as well as unions in other tertiary educational levels in the country are also on strike for similar reasons, belied and exposed the ridiculous disposition and propaganda to paint our union black in the face of the Nigerian public who has seen through the shenanigan, deliberate, systemic and orchestrated agenda of the present government. “This is not only to undermine but to comprehensively destroy public university education in unpatriotic obedience to the slavish and destructive command of the neoliberal high command to which the soul of this administration and her forbears seems to be irrevocably sold. “The fact that the president unfortunately and sadly taken and embraced an attitude of mute indifference and unedifying quietude in the face of calamitous consequences a neglected education sector could foist on generations of Nigerians, including those yet unborn is a clear signpost of leadership failure. Nigerian public university students remain at home while our dear president and his cronies lavish valuable time on partisan party political activities, family egoistic ceremonies and global junketing, and to have finally woken up to address the issue of the national strike in the nation public universities in a season of Eid Adha celebration – season that calls for utmost and supreme sacrifices exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim should elicits both spiritual and popular condemnation. “The choice of this solemn occasion to trade blames rather than making sacrifice as the season demands appears more of gross lack of understanding of the enormity of the crisis. The usual window-dressing and buck-passing and inability to rise up to serious occasion affecting our country particularly the nation’s education sector is rather unfortunate. “This is underscored by the sleep-walk disposition of the un-presidential response to an issue which has been prolonged and exacerbated due to presidential inaction. Mr. President sir, for ASUU this strike action should not have lasted beyond the first week after it was declared because the issues at stake were neither new nor do they require rocket science to resolve given that there had been MOUs and MOAs as well as a duly renegotiated ASUU-FGN Agreement completed way back 13th May, 2020 before your government which you and your administration neglected and refused to implement and signed. “Our Commander –in – Chief, if only your administration has taken the sacred responsibility for education and the future of the Nigerian youth seriously, this latter day unconvincing lamentation without doing anything would have been unnecessary. Your Excellency, your position is to be on top of issues and solve national problems no matter how tough the situation instead of hopeless lamentation and sermonizing.” The union said enough would not be enough unless the government does the needful. Recall that the Briggs Committee was set up by the government to renegotiation the 2009 Agreement with ASUU and submitted its report to the Education Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu, over a month ago. In a recent interview with our correspondent, the National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the government promised getting back to his union immediately it gets the report but nothing has been done since then. Issues in contention include the payment of Revitalisation Fund, payment

  Human rights activist and senior lawyer, Femi Falana, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to submit a supplementary budget for the appropriation of the sum of N200 billion required to revamp federal universities across the country. According to Mr Falana, this will go a long way in ending the months-long strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities that has paralysed public universities since February. Mr Falana said President Buhari’s recent lament over the prolonged strike was unnecessary. READ ALSO: Enough Is Enough, Buhari Tells ASUU He also faulted the Federal Government’s claim that it does not have the funds to meet ASUU’s demands, noting that the government has allocated trillions to address issues such as fuel subsidy and agriculture policy. ASUU’s demands ASUU embarked on a four-week warning strike on February 14. On March 14, the union extended the industrial action by another two months to allow the government meet all of its demands. A 12-week extension was announced on May 9. Since May 9, the union has remained on strike, vowing to persist until its demands are met. The academics are seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands. One bone of contention for the academics is the non-payment of university revitalisation funds, which amounts to about N1.1 trillion. But the Federal Government has said it doesn’t have the money to pay such an amount, citing low oil prices during the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The agreement was reportedly struck in 2009. Another is the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). The academics have proposed an alternative payroll system, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).   Read Mr Falana’s statement below: TIME TO END ASUU STRIKE BY PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI Four months ago, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) commenced the current strike to compel the Federal Government to comply with the FG/ASSU Agreement on funding of all federal universities in Nigeria. According to the binding Agreement the total fund which the Federal Government ought to have provided to revamp the universities is N200 billion in line with its obligation under the Agreement. Before then, the warning strikes embarked upon by ASUU was ignored by the Federal Government. Thus, the ongoing industrial action which has paralysed the federal universities has lingered on due to the refusal of the Federal Government to meet its commitment under the FG/ASUU Agreement. However, in justifying the unwarranted breach of the Agreement the Federal Government has complained of lack of fund. Instead of addressing the outstanding grey areas in the prolonged negotiations, President Muhammadu Buhari who is the Visitor to all federal universities in the country has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to consider the long-term effect of the strike on students and the generational consequences on families, the educational system and the future development of the country. While lamenting that the strike was already taking a toll on the psychology of parents, students and other stakeholders, throwing up many moral issues that already beg for attention the President said that “We hope that ASUU will sympathise with the people on the prolonged strike. Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at home. Don’t hurt the next generation for goodness sake.” The claim of the Federal Government that it lacks the financial resources to fund university education has been taken with a pinch of salt by the Nigerian people. Having regard to the way and manner huge public fund has been expended on other projects it does appear that the Federal Government has not prioritised higher education. For instance, the electricity sector and the counter insurgency operations in two regions in the country have consumed not less than N6 trillion without any tangible result. The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) claims that N5.4 trillion is owed by a section of the comparador bourgeoisie whose toxic debts were bought with public fund. Even though N443 billion was spent on the importation of fuel from January to June 2022 the National Assembly has approved N4 trillion for the same product from July to December 2022 due to the comatose status of the nation’s refineries. The Federal Government has also made available N100 billion for revamping the textile industry; N850 billion for rice production; N250 billion for autogas vehicle conversion and N228 for school feeding programme. Apart from its annual budget of N40 billion the Independent National Electoral Commission has received N100 billion as the first tranche of the 2022 budget to conduct the 2023 general elections. A government that can afford to spend trillions of Naira on the aforesaid projects cannot afford to ignore the funding of higher education. Therefore, the federal government should adopt concrete measures to end the ASUU strike without any further delay. Instead of lamenting over the strike, President Buhari should urgently submit a Supplementary budget to the National Assembly for the appropriation of the sum of N200 billion required to revamp the federal universities. This demand is in accordance with the FG/ASUU Agreement whose terms are binding on the Federal Government. The National Assembly, concerned parents, progressive civil society bodies and other relevant stakeholders should prevail on President Buhari to do the needful with a view to ending the strike without any further delay. Femi Falana SAN, Interim Chair, Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB) July 12, 2022.

  Super Eagles star, Ahmed Musa, has tackled Nigerian politicians over the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Students of many government-owned universities have been away from the classrooms since February when ASUU commenced strike. All efforts to make the lecturers return to the classroom have not yielded meaningful result. On Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari asked ASUU to stop keeping children at home. Posting on his official Instagram account on Tuesday, Musa said it was a shame that political office holders flaunt the pictures of their children who school abroad while those in Nigeria. He wrote, “To our political office holders whose children school abroad. How do you feel visiting your children abroad, taking pictures in their schools and posting online while ASUU is on strike? “Like seriously, how is it ok to you? You’re running a system that you don’t even believe in. Show me one Oyibo leader whose child is schooling in Nigeria. “E no day touch una? And when you return Nigerian youths will still gather and sing praises for una.[sic]” Musa’s post comes after pictures of the graduation of Governor Nyesom Wike’s son from a UK university flooded the internet. Aside from Wike, two other governors attended the graduation. They Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State and Seyi Makinde, his Oyo counterpart.