ASUU Strike: House of Reps To Intervene
The House of Representatives has said it is intervening in the lingering dispute between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
What kind of intervention?
The Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this on Tuesday after the National Assembly returned from its two-month annual break. Gbajabiamila said he has already summoned a meeting of the stakeholders involved in the dispute, including the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Chris Ngige; Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; and ASUU’s leadership.
What’s the House bringing to the negotiations?
Gbajabiamila said the parliament is committed to doing everything possible to end the crisis. “Our agenda is to explore whatever options there are for parliament to help resolve the present crisis so that our children can return to school”, he said. While acknowledging that “the government has a role in ensuring that our nation’s young people get a quality education that allows them to compete and thrive in the 21st-Century knowledge economy”, Gbajabiamila noted that government funding has proven to be inadequate for the country’s education sector.
“Evidence abounds that the current framework of government-sponsored tertiary education is no longer working as it should and hasn’t worked for a long time. Our immediate goal is to do everything to get our children back to school. However, the time has also come to begin a candid assessment of the current system and to consider all available options for complete reform. We owe this to our children and to our nation’s future”, the Speaker said.
