Follow Us on Google
From Jude Chinedu, Enugu
The Acting Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ebonyi State University, Ikechuku Igwenyi, has called for an upward review of the agreement reached between the body and the federal government.
Igwenyi said that the agreement reached in 2009 when the dollar was still equal to N150 was no longer realistic as the price of the dollar currently is N700.
In a press release in Abakaliki, Igwenyi who condemned the attitude of politicians towards the demands of the body said that ASUU should be talking of N5 trillion and not N1 trillion earlier agreed with the government.
Other News
“ASUU, therefore, is not realistic because rather than calling for a review of the renegotiated agreement in the context of the current economic realities of dollar to naira ratio, they are asking for the release of funds negotiated in 2009, when a dollar was less than one hundred and fifty naira (₦150) as compared to present day reality rating of dollar to naira ratio of about seven hundred naira (₦700),” he stated.
Related: ASUU strike enters seven months tomorrow
“This implies that ASUU should be asking for about five trillion naira (₦5 tr) for the revitalization of public Universities in this current and prevailing economic dispensation. The about ₦1.1tr outstanding revitalization fund cannot achieve the same objectives as prices of items like cement, rods, wood for furniture, reagents and chemicals, equipment and stationeries, books and subscriptions, utility vehicles, fuel for generators and other consumables are no longer in tandem with the economic equivalents of same items 13 years ago.
“There is a need to review all the agreements upwards in terms of proportional inflation, currency devaluation and today’s equivalent of the 13 years old negotiation as part of the Renegotiation rather than demanding for the release of funds that cannot meet up with its purpose now because ASUU would be blamed in future for the failure of the system to achieve the purpose of these struggles.”
Igwenyi added that “ASUU will not back down until the demands of the union are sufficiently met because it is ASUU members that plough the prairies, build the nations through intellectual and knowledge transfer and emancipate the people from mental slavery.”
