NLC To Resolve ASUU/FG Face-off

THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday said it will ask the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resume negotiation with the Federal Government for the resolution of their differences. NLC President, comrade Abdulwahed Omar, spoke after the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja. He said there were reports that the union had issued a statement to withdraw from the negotiations with the Federal Government. Omar said: “Congress resolved at the meeting that we are also going to makeconsultations to ensure that the negotiations resume immediately. We want to ensure that they are resumed to resolve the issues, not to resume andcontinue to dangle around without making any headway. We are also going to study the situation and make some proposals. “But we, at the meeting, also did deliberate on one or two other issues, particularly on the issue of strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). “We are all aware that ASUU has issued a statement saying it will withdraw from the negotiation with the Federal Government following the government’s failure to make a headway in the negotiation. “According to the paper I read, it was also due to the lack of seriousness on the part of government concerning the negotiation. I think it is a very serious situation we are facing today, that we allow the lecturers to remain on strike for upward of two months without resolving the issues. I think it is a very serious issue.” Interior Minister Abba Moro yesterday urged ASUU to reduce its demands. . He said university students should also advise their teachers to review downwards their demands and yield togovernment’s position. The minister spoke in Abuja when he received officials of the National Union of Benue State Student (NUBSS). He said: “I assure you that the ongoing strike is one that the Federal Government is tackling headlong. In spite of the problems that have hindered further discussions, the government will continue to explore all avenues that are aimed at resolving the crisis in our universities, especially now that the government has given money to tackling all the problems in our universities for infrastructure. “Since you are children, I expect that some of your teachers are also parents. The government is making efforts to letASUU see things from the position of the government, expect that you too have a role to play as students. “You must be in the position to advise and sometimes plead with teachers to take into consideration the future of the youth as leaders of tomorrow and mellow down on some of their demands…” House of Representatives member Farouk Lawan has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to explore other means to resolve its differences with the Federal Government other than the ongoing strike. The lawmaker said incessant strikes aredetrimental to the country’s educationalsystem and standard. Lawan spoke yesterday in Abuja on the lingering ASUU action, which he said has dire consequences on the nation’s education sector.