A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, has said that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), would continue to hold the nation to ransom through their unrelenting strikes until the federal government implements a no-work, no-pay policy.
During a media interview with a few journalists on Sunday in Abuja, Lukman claimed and emphasized that it was detrimental culture to pay striking employees.
According to him, funding for public education was a need that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
He opinion that funding for public education was essential and should not be taken for granted.
Lukman stated the demise of the sector began with the Ibrahim Babangida regime’s obsession with IMF and World Bank policies that enforced the Structural Adjustment Programme and stopped investment in public education.
The party leader emphasized that Nigeria should go back to the previous system that had been wrecked by IMF/World Bank policies and insisted that no nation improves when the educational system is privately funded.
Lukman said, “Since 1985, the crisis we have had is that investment in public education has been frozen which has produced the gap we have today, whereby we have children but no schools for them to attend; where we have schools but no teachers; where we have schools, no teaching materials.”
He emphasized that returning sanity to the crucial sector was a necessary component of the political problem that needed to be overcome.
Read: ASUU strike: Money spent on politics can meet lecturers’ demands – Shehu Sani
The party leader stated that it is now essential to control ASUU’s behavior and ensure that it adheres to some minimal level that would ensure the advancement of the younger generation.
Lukman added: “Now, unfortunately, even our so-called public intellectuals, I don’t see any intellect in the debate going on now led by ASUU. They are not talking about detail, they talk about money in very crude terms as if it is rainfall from heaven. They ask the government to bring X-billion and they don’t give a damn whether on account of their action they are destroying the lives of the younger generation.
“Go and read about my last write up about ASUU strike when they got an agreement of about N30 billion from the federal government. I asked a question: after that N30 billion is expended, where will the next round come from? Because it will be earned again and that is the trap we are in.
“And unfortunately we have also created a destructive culture, whether ASUU work or not, as long as they are on strike, whenever they resume, they get paid. As far as ASUU members are concerned, during this period they are on strike, the government is helping them to save. Meanwhile, our children are sitting with us at home. Those of us that have no time, we can’t even afford to feed them, we have to deregulate and allow them to go out. Whether they do criminal activities or not, it doesn’t matter.
“That is why I said we have to do hard negotiations. And for me, those hard negotiations include the fact that anybody who is ready in the name of strike to spend one week outside class, no matter the matter, doesn’t have to be in our classrooms. We can’t invest in such responsibility because the life of the child cannot be suspended by one month.”
Check Also: ASUU strike: Endless negotiations and disregard for students
