FG seeks support of VCs, says impasse ending soon
The Student Wing of Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG-SW), yesterday, directed its 19 northern state chapters to join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in nationwide protest over the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.
The body, in a statement by its National Coordinator and Secretary-General, Comrades Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi and Emuseh Gimba Bokunga, said the demonstration would involve crumbling activities of state and national assemblies, political parties and barricading of major highways, airways and railways.
The group regretted that the current leaders, who were beneficiaries of the good programmes of the nation’s founding fathers, had constituted hindrance to present and future generations from enjoying same privileges.
“We are left with no option than to do anything humanly possible to ensure the reopening of our classes,” it added.
This is even as Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, pleads with vice chancellors (VCs) to end the industrial action.
He made the call yesterday at the 2022 retreat for VCs and directors of inter-university centres in Abuja.
Rasheed described university education as critical to success of any economy.
According to him, nations all over the world explore teaching, research and community service for the actualisation of their aspirations and goals.
The NUC chief executive, therefore, stressed the need for measures to identify and resolve the challenges in the university system.
He said the commission has been involved in comprehensive curriculum review and created several fresh academic programmes.
Rasheed identified data science, analytics and mobile communications as new additions to information technology in the ivory towers.
He hinted that NUC had unbundled a number of programmes in Mass Communication and Agriculture.
The executive secretary charged the participants on their primary roles and mandates, even as he expects them to make maximise the retreat with a view to strengthening the university system.
The Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Opiah, advised the administrators to harmoniously work with the governing councils government in promoting university education.
He commended NUC for repositioning the system through its various initiatives.
ALSO yesterday, Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, expressed the hope that the strike would soon end.
Speaking ahead of NLC’s planned solidarity march, the minister, represented by the permanent secretary, Andrew Adejo, at the 81st Joint Consultative Committee on Education (JCCE) in Yola, Adamawa State, pledged that ASUU demands will be resolved soon.
Stating that the strike had been technically resolved, he added that finishing touches were being smoothened for both parties to arrive at a final agreement that guarantees no future industrial actions.
