President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to place the interest of the nation in the front burner and return to classes while government makes efforts to meet their demands.
The president assured that no effort would be spared in the amicable resolution of all issues raised by the union, especially the improvement of the nation’s academic standard and better work environment for lecturers to ensure that further industrial action becomes unnecessary.
President Buhari, who made the appeal while addressing the closing session of the 25th and 26th combined convocation of the University of Abuja on Friday, said the government understood the position of ASUU and would do everything possible to address the concerns of the association.
“Universities must maintain a certain level of stability for better academic performance to be attained,” he said, adding that education remained the most veritable platform for change for both individuals and society.
The president, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Abdulrasheed, said the function and responsibility of developing education should not be seen as that of government alone but the collective efforts of parents, teachers, students, education administrators and the entire society.
“…it is on this note that I appeal to ASUU to return to work immediately and continue to dialogue with the government on how to pursue their outstanding demands and grievances,” he said.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah remarked that the management was saddened but understands the reasons for the latest strike by ASUU even though the action did not affect the convocation process.
Na’Allah also appealed to ASUU and the government to expedite action in resolving the outstanding issues to prevent the industrial action from affecting the academic calendar and other activities within the learning communities.
Professor Na’Allah disclosed that the university graduated 8,269 students in the 25th and 26th combined convocation out of which 78 came out with doctorate degrees, 465 got masters while 214 received postgraduate diplomas.