Mohammed Oluwatimileyin Taoheed reports,
Abdullahi Sule, the current Governor of Nassarawa State, has pleaded with the Nasarawa State University Keffi (NSUK) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to go out of the ongoing national strike.
While speaking at the Government House in the capital of the state, Sule noted it has become vital for the union at the state owned university to look into ending the six months strike embarked upon solely for solidarity with the national body of ASUU.
In his words, the meeting has become imperative in order for the parties to put heads together with a view to arriving at a solution stating that initially he didn’t want to interfere with the ongoing strike at the NSUK, since ASUU joined the strike in solidarity with their national body.
“I have to wade in because the strike is taking a little bit too long and it’s affecting the education of the people of the state. Our lecturers should understand that Nasarawa State is different from other states. We are not a state that is very buoyant. We are a state that is growing steadily. We are a state that is currently receiving some attention.
So, if there’s any time that we can do something positive, different from the rest of the country, I always call on the good people of the state to see if we can do that,” he stated.
“I want us to find a solution. I am calling on you to interfere by appealing to you to consider suspending the strike. I would rather discuss your issues and see a way that we can resolve them rather than wait for the federal government to settle with federal workers,” he said.
He added for the university lecturers that, a state university that has its contract with the state government can chose to be different if their matters are addressed stating further when the going gets tough, only the tough gets going. Pointing out that It may be a difficult decision to make but not an impossible decision to make.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor of NSUK, Professor Suleiman Bala Mohammed, who gave his speech praised the Governor for convening the meeting and for accelerating the status of the institution adding that despite of ASUU, SSANU and NASU, amongst others, to join the ongoing strike, the institution has soared higher to launch its combined convocation in which the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and other top dignitaries attended, as well as organized a public lecture in partnership with the United Nations environment programme.
