Gbajabiamila Urges ASUU To End Strike

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has urged the national leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to review its strike action for the sake of the Nigerian youths.

Gbajabiamila disclosed this on Thursday at the National Assembly, in a meeting he convened with the leadership of ASUU, ministries of labour and productivity, education, and other stakeholders, towards ending the industrial action.

According to the Speaker, education remains a foundation upon which a country could thrive, and as such, consistent industrial action posed serious threats to it.

“Like I’ve always said, education is a fundamental human right and not a privilege; If we look at it that way, it will change the way we see things.

“It doesn’t speak well of the country when it becomes perennial that we talk of strikes; we should try and rise above everything and put the lives of our children first,” he said.

Recall that ASUU had vowed to embark on strike if the federal government insisted on capturing all the lecturers on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

But Gbajabiamila said that ASUU should also realize that the country was governed by laws and that ASUU could set a bad precedent if it disregard government’s directive.

“On the issue of IPPIS, I’ve heard and read your position; your union is even divided on this.

“Much as you argue that you can’t be part of IPPIS, we live in a country governed by laws; we may not like a law or policy, but as part of government, we should respect that.

“If the National Assembly is to be captured under IPPIS, and we as members of the National Assembly say no, what will the public, including ASUU, say? If ASUU can come up with excuses, others too may do that,” he added.

He also said that policies like IPPIS would help government’s fight against corruption.

Gbajabiamila assured the union that it would intervene on the issue and ensure that government fulfils its agreement.

“On the 2009 agreement, there has to be something called sanctity of agreement; there are situations where agreements become impossible to implement not for a fault of government.

“If you have an agreement and there’s dwindling revenue, how does the government respect that? But I’ll blame that on the part of government, and we’re a part of government, even though we didn’t sign an agreement with ASUU,” he said.

In his response,  ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi, assured the speaker that his delegation would report back to other members and give a feedback on the strike action.