Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) has attributed the protracted Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike to the Federal Government.
This information was provided by the association’s leader, Abiola Owoaje, in a statement titled “FG’s empty hubris prolonging ASUU strike” on Sunday.
The ongoing ASUU strike, according to Owoaje, is a result of the Buhari administration’s disinterest in education and its repeated displays of insincerity in negotiations with ASUU.
He urged President Muhammadu Buhari to prioritize education, noting that the group rejected the government’s justification of a lack of funding.
The Federal Government’s stance on the ASUU strike is misguided, reckless, and insensitive to the needs of students, parents, the university system, and Nigeria as a whole, according to the statement.
“It is distressing to see President Muhammadu Buhari remain distant on important topics like the ASUU strike. His ministers have addressed the concerns presented by ASUU with mockery and the worst disrespect, taking their lead from him.
“The triumvirate of Adama Adamu, the minister of education, Festus Keyamo, the junior minister of labor, employment, and productivity, and Dr. Chris Ngige have generally shown incompetence in their handling of the ASUU’s strike.
They have been unnecessarily confrontational, obscuring the truth, and spreading outright lies in an effort to break the spirit of the striking lecturers, force the union to give up the idea of collective bargaining, and ultimately incite the Nigerian people against ASUU. They lack any good reason to not implement the 2009 agreement reached with ASUU.
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) considers the current strike to be harmful to the interests of the country and urges the Federal Government to get its act together and act right now to put an end to the strike.
“We reject the Federal Government’s justification of a lack of funding as another ruse to avoid its obligation to make sure education is a top priority. Money would undoubtedly be made available for the sector, just like other funds used to pay the extravagant excesses of its leaders, if education were given the attention it deserves.
