ASUU: Reduce your demands and lets Talk - FG

The ongoing strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may linger for long, even as the National Assembly engaged the union’s leaders in a prolonged dialogue session, on Monday.

 Chairman of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, called on the union to reduce their demands to only three namely, funding, university autonomy and the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).

 He said the appeal became necessary to ensure timely resolution of the ongoing university strike.

 Chukwumerije, however, did not spare the executive arm of government for foot-dragging in honouring the agreement it entered into with the union since 2009.

 “It is a puzzle to Nigerians that it has on three occasions required the extreme action of withdrawal of services by ASUU to compel the attention of the government to the necessity of honouring 2009 agreement.

 “Why endorse an agreement in the first instance if you had no intention of honouring it? Wherein then lies the basis for mutual trust?”, he asked.

 He also took a swipe at the ASUU leadership for increasingly inclining to what he described as “self-righteous certitude.” - Tribune