Buhari pleads with ASUU to call off strike
President Muhammadu Buhari has once again appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities to call off its ongoing strike that started 14th of February 2022, saying it is counterproductive for the university lecturers to continue the strike as its negotiations with the federal government had gone far.
The plea was made at the maiden special convocation ceremony and conferment of Honourary Degree of Letters by the University of Maiduguri on Alhaji Muhammadu Indimi, chairman of Oriental Energy Resources Limited in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
Buhari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, said it was more appropriate that something is said about the ASUU strike since the gathering was meant to celebrate Alhaji Indimi’s huge contribution to the advancement of education not only in the country but the world at large.
“In this regard, I want to convey President Muhammadu Buhari’s call for ASUU to call off their strike and return to the classroom”, Gambari said, adding that such prolonged interruption of education is undermining the nation’s development of human capital.
Also speaking at the occasion, Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Professor Aliyu Shugaba explained that the maiden special convocation was to give honour to Indimi for his contribution to educational development at home and abroad.
Professor Shugaba also lent his voice to the lingering industrial action by the varsity lecturers, urging the federal government, ASUU, and other unions in the university to resolve the ongoing strike to save the education sector.
What you should know about the ongoing ASUU strike.
The strike which is now in its 6th month was embarked upon by ASUU to press home their unresolved demands on the federal government and has been extended multiple times to give the government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues.
President Buhari had on July 19 directed the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, to proffer a solution to the challenge and report back in two weeks.
Some top government officials in their recent interviews hinted that the federal government will be unable to meet the financial demands of the university lecturers as it was impossible for the government to borrow about 1.2 trillion to put an end to the lingering strike.
