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Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, resolved to intervene in the dispute between Federal Government andvthe Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU).
Consequently, the House said it will interface with the Ministries of Education,Labour and Employment, as well ASUU, on the lingering dispute between the government and the university lecturers.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Dachung Bagos, on the two weeks warning strike embarked upon by ASUU over the alleged failure of the government to fulfil its past agreement with it.
Bagos in his lead debate, urged the House to intervene in the FG/ ASUU face-off, noting that if the strike is allowed to take full effect, it will adversely affect students of the various public universities in the country.
According to him, “schools have just resumed for academic session, and if the strike is allowed to take full effect it will cost a lot for the students financial and otherwise which might lead to additional year.”
The lawmaker contended that the endless strikes by ASUU was becoming a national embarrassment, noting that it has made Nigerians look towards other countries for university education.
In his contribution, Tajudeen Yusuf, said strikes by ASUU has continued unabated in the last twenty years, because agreement reached by the union and the government are never honoured by the parties involved.
Yusuf said it is regrettable, that students are compelled to spend extra years in public universities as result of unending strikes by their lecturers.
He appealed to the House leadership to pay more attention to subsequent agreements between ASUU and the government, stating that it is obvious that there is lost of trust between the two parties.
“We shouldn’t be doing the same thing and expecting a different result. That is the definition of madness. Mr Speaker, for the past 20 years, we have been going round this cycle of ASUU strike. We come to the table to discuss. What is agreed by men, who should be men of honour, we throw it into the dustbin. Then we come back again, after about six months.
“A four years programme become six seven years. A child that goes into the university at the age of 18, 19 years that has the hope of graduating at 22,23 years, now graduates at 27. When he is applying for job, he will be told that if you are below 25 years, don’t apply, what kind of wickedness is that?
“Mr speaker, I want to appeal that this time, there should be parliamentary intervention. This two groups have been meeting for the past twenty years, we have not seen an end to it. The parliament should intervene. Because by implication there is lost of trust and confidence by both sides.
“The leadership should take interest and see that we have an agreement that is a public document. That we could hold people accountable,” the lawmaker stated.
