Over 1,000 anti-riot policemen yesterday in Calabar disrupted a
protest march by the University of Calabar branch of Academic Staff
Union of Nigerian Universities, ASUU. This is even as the union said
only justice to the 2009 agreement signed with the Federal Government
can guarantee peace in public universities.
The police barricaded the university’s gate to prevent ASUU members from kick-starting the demonstration, which the union claimed would have been peaceful. Addressing ASUU members at the school gate while speaking on the theme, “Save university education in Nigeria,” ASUU branch Chairman, UNICAL, Dr. James Okpileye, charged members to remain steadfast in the struggle of winning the war against oppressive tendencies by the Federal Government.
Okpileye noted that recently ASUU wrote a letter to the police informing them of the union’s plan to embark on a peaceful road walk but to his greatest chagrin, police came and barricaded the institution’s gate, preventing his members from conducting it.
“Why would market women and students be allowed to carry out demonstrations but ASUU’s peaceful rally is being disrupted?” he asked. Also speaking, a former National ASUU President, Festus Iyayi, berated the Federal Government for employing savage strategy of ‘no-work-no-pay’ to cause starvation to lecturers, stressing that the teachers would not be intimidated by such “a theory of cascading mediocrity.” Iyayi said the introduction of no-work-no-pay was not new to the union, adding that when ASUU returned from the trenches, they would implement their own theory of ‘no-work, no-pay.’
The ASUU branch Chairman, Cross River University of Technology, CRUTECH, Dr. Nsim Ogar, urged the police to be cautious in discharging their duties. He stressed that it was ASUU’s turn today, it could come to when the police too would be aggrieved with government’s poor funding of public institutions and might decide to fight for their right.
In Osogbo and Ile-Ife in Osun State, vehicular and human activities were paralysed for hours as angry lecturers of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, and Osun State University, UNIOSUN, staged rallies to force the Federal Government to implement the agreement reached with the union in 2009.
The lecturers held their rally at the Freedom Square in Osogbo while those at Ile- Ife went round the ancient town to register their grievances against the government on the matter. Addressing the crowd, the OAU Chairman of ASUU, Dr. Adegbola Akinola, said: “The Federal Government is yet to fulfil the agreement reached with the leadership of the union and the sensitisation rally was in compliance with the directive from the national secretariat of the union since the government has not worked in line with the agreement reached with the union. “The government is not transparent over the ASUU’s demands and that is why the union’s position is to sanitise the tertiary education sector.”
Dr. Amos Idowu of the Department of Public Law said that “the enlightenment rally was to ensure that tertiary institutions in the country are funded the way it should be. We are saying no to bastardization of tertiary educational system as was done to primary and secondary education system.
“We are covered by the law which gives every Nigerian the right to express their mind. We are out to claim civil and political rights by educating members of the public why ASUU is on nationwide strike so that the government will be proactive in taking care of education in the country.”
The Chairman, UNIOSUN branch of ASUU, Dr. Abiona Joseph, said that the rally was to educate the people on what was actually happening and correct the impression by the people that ASUU rejected the offers of government.
Policemen were stationed to monitor the peaceful rally so as not to be hijacked by hoodlums. The Chairman of the University of Ibadan chapter of the union, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, while speaking at the town hall meeting and presentation of NEEDS assessment report to clergymen, civil society, labour and students, said the appeal by President Goodluck Jonathan to be patriotic was not needed but the implementation of the agreement reached with the union.
He said that it was sad that a President that claimed that corruption was not Nigeria’s problem could watch while a minister bought bullet-proof vehicles for N255m, and claimed there was no money to fund education. Ajiboye called on President Jonathan to teach youths in the country the virtue of fulfilling agreement and not play politics with lives of children of the masses.
He berated the President for speaking out publicly on the ongoing strike close to four months after it began, maintaining that he had not been patriotic and sensitive enough to the needs of Nigerians.
He said: “Will it have been possible for Mr. President to be quiet if his children are in one of our public institutions and be at home for four months? Does the President care about the future of the country while the children of the masses in public institutions have been asking their President to be more sensitive and patriotic enough to public institutions?.
“How many years of appeal will make Mr. President implement a four-yearold agreement? The truth is we are tired of appeal. We need action.” The ASUU boss added that the union had shown enough patriotism by suspending previous strikes after the Federal Government failed to fulfil the agreement in phases, stating that the 2012 strike was suspended as a patriotic compromise to allow government implement other components of the agree-ment but the government deceived the union.
“We believe in ASUU that if the future will be better, today must be good. We cannot live on appeal while children of the rich use public monies abroad and even use Federal Government scholarship scheme to school abroad,” he said. The Chairman UI Strike Information and Propaganda Committee, Prof. Dele Layiwola, said Nigeria is the biggest and most disappointing black nation where leaders do not love their citizens.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof. Remi Raji-Oyelade, who presented the NEEDS report, described it as a ‘’thesis of rot in Nigeria Public Education’’, adding that the report means that “Now excellence in education deserves serious attention”.
Present at the town hall meeting include the Oyo State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Bashir Olanrewaju; the Leader of Herbal Medicine, Dr. Esalaye Aarunoyemi; the Chaplain of the Chapel of Resurrection, Rev. Olatunji, students and members of the civil society. Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, said she was not responsible for prolonged industrial action by university lecturers in the country contrary to rumours being peddled by faceless people about her roles in the crisis.
The Minister, in a statement by her media aide, Paul Nwabuikwu, said contrary to some recent media reports, the Federal Government had not adopted a take-it-or-leave-it approach in its negotiations with ASUU. Rather, she explained that the approach was focused on positive engagement and achieving sustainable solutions to the challenges facing higher education in the country, adding that that is why President Jonathan recently appealed to ASUU to respond to government’s positive steps by calling off its strike in the interest of suffering students and parents.
Okonjo-Iweala lamented that despite the appeal, some elements in ASUU had been distributing pamphlets and flyers with abusive and inflammatory messages against her in mosques and other places, pointing out that the ugly development is taking academic unionism to a new low and infusing it with unnecessary politics.
The police barricaded the university’s gate to prevent ASUU members from kick-starting the demonstration, which the union claimed would have been peaceful. Addressing ASUU members at the school gate while speaking on the theme, “Save university education in Nigeria,” ASUU branch Chairman, UNICAL, Dr. James Okpileye, charged members to remain steadfast in the struggle of winning the war against oppressive tendencies by the Federal Government.
Okpileye noted that recently ASUU wrote a letter to the police informing them of the union’s plan to embark on a peaceful road walk but to his greatest chagrin, police came and barricaded the institution’s gate, preventing his members from conducting it.
“Why would market women and students be allowed to carry out demonstrations but ASUU’s peaceful rally is being disrupted?” he asked. Also speaking, a former National ASUU President, Festus Iyayi, berated the Federal Government for employing savage strategy of ‘no-work-no-pay’ to cause starvation to lecturers, stressing that the teachers would not be intimidated by such “a theory of cascading mediocrity.” Iyayi said the introduction of no-work-no-pay was not new to the union, adding that when ASUU returned from the trenches, they would implement their own theory of ‘no-work, no-pay.’
The ASUU branch Chairman, Cross River University of Technology, CRUTECH, Dr. Nsim Ogar, urged the police to be cautious in discharging their duties. He stressed that it was ASUU’s turn today, it could come to when the police too would be aggrieved with government’s poor funding of public institutions and might decide to fight for their right.
In Osogbo and Ile-Ife in Osun State, vehicular and human activities were paralysed for hours as angry lecturers of the Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, and Osun State University, UNIOSUN, staged rallies to force the Federal Government to implement the agreement reached with the union in 2009.
The lecturers held their rally at the Freedom Square in Osogbo while those at Ile- Ife went round the ancient town to register their grievances against the government on the matter. Addressing the crowd, the OAU Chairman of ASUU, Dr. Adegbola Akinola, said: “The Federal Government is yet to fulfil the agreement reached with the leadership of the union and the sensitisation rally was in compliance with the directive from the national secretariat of the union since the government has not worked in line with the agreement reached with the union. “The government is not transparent over the ASUU’s demands and that is why the union’s position is to sanitise the tertiary education sector.”
Dr. Amos Idowu of the Department of Public Law said that “the enlightenment rally was to ensure that tertiary institutions in the country are funded the way it should be. We are saying no to bastardization of tertiary educational system as was done to primary and secondary education system.
“We are covered by the law which gives every Nigerian the right to express their mind. We are out to claim civil and political rights by educating members of the public why ASUU is on nationwide strike so that the government will be proactive in taking care of education in the country.”
The Chairman, UNIOSUN branch of ASUU, Dr. Abiona Joseph, said that the rally was to educate the people on what was actually happening and correct the impression by the people that ASUU rejected the offers of government.
Policemen were stationed to monitor the peaceful rally so as not to be hijacked by hoodlums. The Chairman of the University of Ibadan chapter of the union, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, while speaking at the town hall meeting and presentation of NEEDS assessment report to clergymen, civil society, labour and students, said the appeal by President Goodluck Jonathan to be patriotic was not needed but the implementation of the agreement reached with the union.
He said that it was sad that a President that claimed that corruption was not Nigeria’s problem could watch while a minister bought bullet-proof vehicles for N255m, and claimed there was no money to fund education. Ajiboye called on President Jonathan to teach youths in the country the virtue of fulfilling agreement and not play politics with lives of children of the masses.
He berated the President for speaking out publicly on the ongoing strike close to four months after it began, maintaining that he had not been patriotic and sensitive enough to the needs of Nigerians.
He said: “Will it have been possible for Mr. President to be quiet if his children are in one of our public institutions and be at home for four months? Does the President care about the future of the country while the children of the masses in public institutions have been asking their President to be more sensitive and patriotic enough to public institutions?.
“How many years of appeal will make Mr. President implement a four-yearold agreement? The truth is we are tired of appeal. We need action.” The ASUU boss added that the union had shown enough patriotism by suspending previous strikes after the Federal Government failed to fulfil the agreement in phases, stating that the 2012 strike was suspended as a patriotic compromise to allow government implement other components of the agree-ment but the government deceived the union.
“We believe in ASUU that if the future will be better, today must be good. We cannot live on appeal while children of the rich use public monies abroad and even use Federal Government scholarship scheme to school abroad,” he said. The Chairman UI Strike Information and Propaganda Committee, Prof. Dele Layiwola, said Nigeria is the biggest and most disappointing black nation where leaders do not love their citizens.
The Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof. Remi Raji-Oyelade, who presented the NEEDS report, described it as a ‘’thesis of rot in Nigeria Public Education’’, adding that the report means that “Now excellence in education deserves serious attention”.
Present at the town hall meeting include the Oyo State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Bashir Olanrewaju; the Leader of Herbal Medicine, Dr. Esalaye Aarunoyemi; the Chaplain of the Chapel of Resurrection, Rev. Olatunji, students and members of the civil society. Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, said she was not responsible for prolonged industrial action by university lecturers in the country contrary to rumours being peddled by faceless people about her roles in the crisis.
The Minister, in a statement by her media aide, Paul Nwabuikwu, said contrary to some recent media reports, the Federal Government had not adopted a take-it-or-leave-it approach in its negotiations with ASUU. Rather, she explained that the approach was focused on positive engagement and achieving sustainable solutions to the challenges facing higher education in the country, adding that that is why President Jonathan recently appealed to ASUU to respond to government’s positive steps by calling off its strike in the interest of suffering students and parents.
Okonjo-Iweala lamented that despite the appeal, some elements in ASUU had been distributing pamphlets and flyers with abusive and inflammatory messages against her in mosques and other places, pointing out that the ugly development is taking academic unionism to a new low and infusing it with unnecessary politics.
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