FG Reveals Those Responsible For Persistent ASUU Strikes

Previous Nigerian governments are to blame for the persistent industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu has claimed.

Adamu Adamu stated this while answering a question asked him by a Corp Member on the persistent ASUU strike, during a Town Hall meeting on security issues tagged ‘Engaging the Youth and Communities’ at the Multi-Purpose Indoor Sports Hall Complex Bauchi on Monday.

The Minister of Education accused a previous government – though he didn’t specify which administration – of entering into an agreement with ASUU to pay them N1.3trilion when it knew it couldn’t pay it.

He said: “A government in this country went and sat down with ASUU and agreed on some conditions that it would pay universities N1.3 trillion’.

“I do believe that while they were signing that agreement, they knew that it is not possible for them to implement it. There is just nowhere N1.3trn will come out from.

“I think the basic problem between the ASUU side and the government side has been deciding on what to do about this N1.3 trillion. If a government appends its signature to an agreement, it is an agreement.”

He stated that the present administration would soon come to an agreement with ASUU and end the ongoing strike.

“We are not happy that our campuses are closed, we are not happy that the calendar of schools has been disrupted. But the fault is the government that signed to do what it knew it could not do.

“But I assure you that we are on the verge of reaching an agreement and very, very soon, we will reach an agreement with them,” he said.