NASU laments delay in implementation of agreement with WAEC

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has bemoaned the delay in implementation of an agreement reached with the management of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) since October 7, 2019.
   
The examination bodies and libraries trade group council of NASU, which expressed its dismay in a communiqué issued at the end of its regular meeting held at Centre for Advanced Library and Information Management (CALIM), Enugu, Enugu State, noted that out of the seven issues in contention during the meeting, only three had been resolved, while the remaining four were pending.  
   
NASU insisted that a change in the leadership of the Council should not be a barrier to the fulfillment of agreement as the new helmsman should take over both the assets and liabilities.

The Council-in-Session, therefore, called on the new helmsman, Mr. Patrick Areghan, to quickly look into the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached with the union and implement the same to avoid industrial disharmony in the Council.

The meeting also frowned on the dilapidating status of most public libraries in the country. It decried the poor funding of libraries by both the Federal and state governments with devastating effects of dilapidated structures, bushy environment, absence of electricity, lack of books, inadequate staff, among other adverse developments. 
  
It added: “Conscious of the fact that libraries play a prominent role in education and national development of the nation as there is a connection between the reading culture of a people and the development of the society. The Council, urged the relevant authorities in Nigeria to accord libraries the recognition they deserve in form of proper budgetary allocation and to also review the Act that established TETFUND to include Public Libraries and the National Library in its fund intervention.” 
   
The communiqué, which was jointly signed by the Deputy President, Examination bodies and libraries, Trade group of NASU, Sunday Obabunmi and Secretary of the Trade group, ‘Damola Adelekun, also expressed sadness over the steady declining budgetary allocation to education in recent years, saying, “the Council-in-Session decried the miserly funding of education by both the Federal and State Governments and noted that any nation that builds its education on a faulty system will crumble on the wheelchair of retrogression and backwardness. The Council-in-Session, therefore, called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to inject more funds into the educational sector as a matter of urgency as the country’s annual budgetary allocation to education is a far cry from the UNESCO recommended allocation of a minimum of 26%.”

It further noted that education is the bedrock of development and for any nation to be transformed, the education of its citizenry is essential. 
NASU also noted with concerns the reluctance of most state governors to kickstart the implementation of the national minimum wage more than one year after it was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
  
Council expressed worries that some State Governments are deploying different antics to shy away from this responsibility by deliberately delaying the negotiation process with their labour unions. 
   
The union called on the defaulting state governments to urgently implement the minimum wage for their workers as anything contrary is unlawful and a breach of the Minimum Wage Act which can lead to industrial disharmony in the affected states.
  
NASU also expressed worries about the rising youth unemployment afflicting the country. It submitted that the recent #EndSARS protests have proven and shown that a country that hosts so many poor and jobless youths can hardly know peace.