ASUU asked to reconsider Gov. N130bn offer – ASUU N87bn not renegotiable, says APC

Nigeria’s Federal Government on Tuesday asked the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU to reconsider its rejection of the N130 billion deal it offered it to call off the national strike that has grounded activities in public in universities across the country for over a month now.

Negotiation between the Federal Government team, led by Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State and the University lecturers broke down after government insisted on the offer of N30 billion for the earned allowances.

The Government had insisted that it was the responsibility of the Governing Council of the Universities to pay the earned allowances.

The offer however was a far cry from the N87 billion the teachers are asking as the cumulated earned allowances of staff based on the agreements reached with the Federal Government in 2009 and ASUU wasted no time in rejecting the offer.

But the Benue State Governor who is the Chairman of the Universities Needs Implementation Committee told State House correspondents on Tuesday that ASUU should call off its strike based on the N30 billion earned allowances offer and another N100 billion promised injection into the infrastructures in the 61 public universities.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) meanwhile has asked the Federal Government to honour its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in order to end the ongoing strike that has paralyzed academic activities in the nation’s public universities.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said no government worth its salt can afford to play with education, because it is the path to national development.

APC said the strike which has kept students in public universities at home for many weeks is a further blow to the country’s education system, which has deteriorated so much that no Nigerian university is currently listed in the top 100 universities in the world and only a few Nigerian universities have made the top 100 in Africa.

”The 87 billion naira that ASUU is demanding represents earned allowances hence cannot be renegotiated.

The truth is, it's the students and education that really suffers at the end. I think ASUU should reconsider the Federal Government offer at least for the sake of the students, considering the fact the FG is also willing to do a lot now for the Universities. As for APC, that's just politicking. Are all civil servants paid the minimum wages as agreed by labour and the State Government in all of the APC states? Your guess is as good as mine.