ASUU Strike: How FG, ASUU Faceoff Can Be Resolved By Atiku

A former vice-president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has proffered solution to the lingering strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the Federal Government and the varsity lecturers should sign a faith agreement that would be endorsed by the National Assembly and a Federal Court.

He also reminded the striking lecturers that the funding of education cannot be shouldered by the Federal Government alone, adding that ASUU is fighting for nothing “aside from being paid better salaries.” Atiku, who owns a private university in his home state of Adamawa, made the proposition via his twitter account page yesterday. “The first move should be to sign a good faith agreement, supported by an act of parliament or federal court, binding both parties to set negotiations with targets toward meeting demands from both sides of the disagreement, while immediately suspending the strike for the sake of the students,” said Atiku. “In the last couple of weeks, I have been working with my office publicly and privately to find a way of resolving the stand-off between ASUU and the Federal Government including the launch of an online petition requesting the immediate end of the strike.” He added that “With my experience dealing with strikes while in government, I have first hand insight to some of the issues on debate, but ASUU and the FG can disagree and find solutions without making Nigerian students suffer in the process”. While urging ASUU and FG to consider a common ground in fighting for qualitative education, the former vice-president noted that the path to qualitative education in the country is a two-way street hence the need for give and take. On the state of government-owned universities which he appeared to be dissatisfied with the little or no groundbreaking researches going on there, Atiku argued that “government officials will not (and should not) descend from their Abuja offices to come design growth plans of universities. If a university is working on significant, groundbreaking research, it has the moral right to approach the FG to request for special funding.”