BY KHALID IDRIS DOYA, Bauchi
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to show commitment to the lingering issues between the Federal Government and the Union by way of setting a committee to resolve the dispute.
"What we are agitating for now, we want the President of the country to show commitment by setting up a committee to see how to address these lingering issues between us", the ATBU chapter chairperson of the Union, Dr. Ibrahim Ibrahim Inuwa said.
He was speaking Tuesday at the ATBU Yelwa campus during the ASUU ATBU Bauchi town hall meeting with stakeholders that cut across the various strata of the society, including students, parents, religious and leaders, businessmen, market women and all affiliates of NLC and TUC.
According to him, the meeting which has the sole objective of getting feedback from the stakeholders on how the union would go about its struggle of meeting its needs from the Federal Government.
Dr I.I Inuwa stated, "Basically, the town hall meeting is to call the attention of education stakeholders in Nigeria on what has been happening between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the government. It is being used as an evenue to get feedback from these stakeholders, as well as advice on how to go about our struggle. This is being done by reemphasizing to stakeholders that education is the business of everybody, not only the union as it's been perceived that ASUSU is a troublemaker.
"We want the public to proffer solutions because all the solutions within our kittens are getting to a point of exhaustion. Most of the times we go for industrial action, people are quick to say that we should explore other avenues of negotiation."
The chairperson ASUU ATBU recalled that for more than a year there wasn't any meaningful commitment from the government to address the issues at stake, thus making the challenges in the universities to be biting day-by-day looking at current economic realities.
"So meeting is basically to rob minds with the stakeholders and drive the misconception most stakeholders have about us that ASUU are troublemakers, that they don't want peace, so we have to call the attention that education is the business of everybody as reflected in the spirit of the Nigerian Constitution."
Mr. Ibrahim Inuwa further explained that it is an obligation on the government to provide education, because the constitution defines our sovereignty, and that is where the politicians drive their power, hence holding them accountable.
In his contribution, a national director and state chairman of member of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Malam Bala Ibrahim Sani, noted that the Universities have multifarious problems apart from staff salaries increment, such as inadequate lecture halls, hostels, research equipment, low remittance of dues, and even the budgetary allocation to the sector.
The religious leader therefore implored upon ASUU to set up a standing committee to be saddled with the responsibility of educating the public about the union problems vis-a-vis the education sector in its entity.
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