ASUU strike: Senate president Lawan sends powerful message to FG
As the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) continues to remain adamant over the ongoing strike, the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, has told the federal government not to sign agreements with labour unions if they cannot be implemented.
The Nation reports that Lawan spoke on Monday, October 12, when the leadership of the Senate met with the members the ASUU in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He noted that it is wrong for the nation’s universities to be shut indefinitely due to issues that could have been resolved amicably between the union and the government.
The Senate president said the meeting with ASUU leadership was meant to explore how the Senate could help to resolve the lingering issues between the federal government and the union.
He urged the federal government and ASUU to shift ground to end the lecturers’ lingering strike.
The Senate president said:
“Our children are the main victims of this. Therefore, both government and ASUU have to find a common ground for our universities to open and offer the kind of services expected of our universities.
“We cannot afford, as a country, to continue to have this kind of crisis. This may explain why those that can afford will normally go out of the country, even to West African countries, like Ghana, to receive a university education.
“I believe our universities can be better, but they are better than most of these universities that our children go to in other African countries, particularly.”
He added that the government cannot have all its way, saying that the ASUU should not expect to get everything it has asked for.