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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Universities Commission (NUC) has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to “sheath their sword” and not disrupt academic peace and harmony in the university system as being threatened.
Acting Executive Secretary of NUC, Chris Maiyaki, made the appeal in an interactive meeting with journalists in Abuja, on Wednesday.
ASUU, on Tuesday issued a nationwide strike notice to the Federal Government over the long absence of Governing Councils for the universities and other issues that border on welfare and working conditions of its members.
The NUC boss assured the Union that the government is working on their demands, particularly the one that concern the Governing Councils, stating that the Councils have been constituted and would soon be inaugurated.
He said: “the first thing to do is the inauguration of the local organizing committee which has been done by the Minister long ago. I am a member of the committee, and as such I can confirm that we have done most of the work in terms of selection of good heads to serve in the Governing Councils, and we are waiting for the right date to inaugurate the Councils.
“Selecting Governing Council members for 65 federal universities is no small task. Extra care is required to ensure that the right people are selected to do that job.
“Our plan this time is for orientation course to accompany the inauguration. There won’t be opportunity to go and come back for the orientation, which will provide opportunity for them to know their responsibilities and boundaries, to avoid interference and clashes with the day-to-day managers of the institutions.
“We know the importance of Governing Councils in the running of the universities, and it wasn’t intentional to delay the reconstitution. We needed to be sure that the right individuals are selected for such huge responsibilities. So, ASUU should not down tools yet, and give us some time to fix the challenge.”
He also countered the position of ASUU on the recently introduced Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS), insisting that members of the academia was fully involved in the development of the document, hence the new academic standards will be the basis for accreditation.
