The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyat Rufa'i, has been singled out for blame over the crisis in Nigeria's education sector, especially the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which has entered its seventh week.
The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyat Rufa'i, has been singled out for blame over the crisis in Nigeria's education sector, especially the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which has entered its seventh week.
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The blame came from the students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), who said they are in support of their lecturers, who had been on strike sine July 1, 2013.
In a statement issued and read by the students, during a press conference in their campus on Monday, they said they would continue to support their lecturers regardless how long the strike lasts even if it is to their disadvantage.
The students, whose union had long been proscribed, came together under the umbrella of an ad hoc association called Council of Faculty Presidents, University of Lagos, emphasising that the goal of their lecturers' action was also in their own best interest and those of posterity.
They said the education minister was in a better position to bring to an end the impasse between ASUU and the Federal Government, but they felt the minister was not doing enough to end the impasse.
"We say unequivocally to the Hon. Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyat Rufa'i that the Nigerian university students are completely disappointed and are continuously being frustrated, by the prolonged strike and the inability of the ministry of education to take our federal and state university education out of its current bereavement as evident in the current crisis," the statement said.
They called on President Goodluck Jonathan to embrace dialogue and honour the agreement the federal government signed with the lecturers' body in 2009, adding that the role played by the Federal Ministry of Education headed by Prof. Rufa'i to manage labour conflicts in the present industrial action was disappointing.
According to the statement, "Our sense of trust in the Ministry of Education has been consistently battered.
"On this backdrop, we call on our president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR), to prove that indeed this government has not come to turn deaf ears to the demands of ASUU in the light of its agreement with the union, dating back to 2009."
Speaking on behalf of the students, President of the Faculty of Arts in the University, Mr. Nelson said, "Timely to note, that a nation like Nigeria that plans to be among the top 20 economies in the world cannot afford to leave the students in an epileptic educational system as experienced at the moment."
The students also addressed issues on the proscribed Students' Union Government (SUG) and called on relevant stakeholders to assist in the reinstatement of the body by the UNILAG authorities.
Mr. Nelson, who replaced the deposed spokesperson of the council, Mr. Seun Larry Williams, said at the press briefing that the present leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had lost credibility, but called on past leaders of NANS and SUGs of various institutions to support calls for the union's reinstatement at UNILAG.
He also asked NANS to recognise the council formed by the various faculties pending when the SUG would be appropriately reinstated.
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has indicated its readiness to recommence its strike any moment from now.
A member of the national body of ASUP told SaharaReporters on Monday that the council would hold a meeting soon, adding that at the meeting, the union would decide whether it would proceed on strike depending on the stand of the federal government regarding its demands.
Prof. Rufa'i had recently while appearing before the Senate Committee on Education said the government had fully implemented nine out of the 19 items in the FG/ASUU agreement, while eight had been “substantially implemented.”
She said only two items, namely, the N106 billion arrears of academic allowances and the issue of 70 years retirement age for teaching staff of universities were pending.
The issue of allowances, she said, was pending because it was still unclear who should be responsible for the payment of the allowances.
Rufa'i further noted that the bill on the age retirement was now before the National Assembly, adding that ASUU was party to the agreement not to sign into law the last bill brought to the sixth National Assembly.
She argued that the other items not implemented depended on the various bureaucratic and legislative processes which required some time before they would come to fruition.
Meanwhile, the President of ASUU, Professor Nasir Faggae, has said the union is not under pressure to call off the strike, insisting that the union is resolute in sustaining the strike if the issues in contention are not met.
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