The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has resolved to meet with the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; as well as the representatives of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in his office on Thursday in order to stop the impending industrial action.
The House has also mandated its Committees on Education, Tertiary and Basic to investigate if the money the federal government intends to pay ASUU in lieu of the agreement reached with the body is housed in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or not and unravel why the money hasn’t been paid.
The decision of the House to intervene and stop the impending industrial action by ASUU was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved at the plenary on Tuesday by Prof. Julius Ihonvbere.
Moving the motion, the lawmaker said ASUU was threatening to proceed on another industrial action on a matter that has been on the front burner for so long.
Ihonvbere said the federal government has not been forthcoming, nor has it attached any consistent seriousness to the urgent need to reposition and refocus the education sector in line with our developmental objectives.
The lawmaker stressed that ASUU has threatened to call out its members across the nation, if all the issues, including those of unpaid academically earned allowances and the universities revitalisation fund are not addressed within a period of three weeks.
Ihonvbere noted that the future of Nigerian students, once again, would be negatively impacted if the impending strike by ASUU is not nipped in the bud by the federal government.
According to him, embarrassed that the federal government has, since the last strike was called off in December 2020, continued to pass the buck, make excuses and engage in diversions and distractions rather than meet the terms of agreement it signed with the union.
The lawmaker argued that ASUU was not asking for anything new, but they are only asking the federal government to implement the agreement signed in December 2020.
He said: “If you look at the track record of conversations, the Minister of Education is saying we don’t handle money, it is Minister of Finance, but ASUU is under the Ministry of Education and it has a responsibility to make this cause to ensure the money is there to pay for the revitalization of universities.”
Ihonvbere therefore called on the federal government to live up to expectation and implement an agreement it signed without duress.
He pointed out that if the federal government disrupts the activities of the universities again by not honouring the agreement, the implications would be far-reaching, adding that the country can’t continue like this.
Contributing, the Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha said if ASUU is allowed to go on strike, it would affect so many souls.
She said it was wrong for the federal government to sign the agreement and later renege.
In his contribution, Hon. Nicholas Ossai said the time has come for the parliament to put some certain sectors in the first line charge.
On his part, the Chief Whip, Hon. Tahir Monguno, said the House should take the bull by the horn by taking advantage of the ongoing budget defence to vote more money for the sector.
The lawmaker noted that It was the responsibility of the House to make sure that the education sector is well-founded.
But the Speaker said the issue was not about funding, as funding was already there, stressing that both the ministers of finance and education are passing the buck of where the money is.
Gbajabiamila said: “The Committees on Education, Tertiary and Basic should investigate and report back to the House. I will meet with the minister of finance, the minister of education, and representatives of ASUU in my office on Thursday.”
