The federal government said it does not have the financial power at the moment to meet the bogus demands of ASUU.
Minister of Education Adamu Adamu, disclosed this while addressing journalists in Abuja following the current ASUU strike.
He noted that the crash in the prices of oil globally has affected the economic fortunes and other sectors of Nigeria, including education.
The government also accused the administration of late president, Umaru Yar’Adua, of making bogus promises to the union during a period of oil boom.
“Let me begin by saying that the issues necessitating this strike dates back to 2009 when the government of late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua signed an agreement with the ASUU on funding of the federal universities in the country.
“The agreement provided for funding of universities to the tune of N1.3trn over a period of six years. It is instructive to know that Nigeria was experiencing oil boom at that time. It was therefore expected that government will be able to meet the terms of the agreement.
“However, international oil prices crashed in subsequent years thereby throwing the country into economic hardship. At the inception of this administration, the country’s economic fortunes worsened, nose-diving into recession, with dire consequences on all sectors of the economy, including education.
“The country just exited recession and is beginning to recover from the consequences of low oil prices.
“If this trend continues, definitely, the education sector will also improve, in other words, the well-being of the education sector and any other sector of the country’s economy is a function of the international oil prices. This is the stack reality for now which all of us must acknowledge and accept,” Adamu said.
The minister appealed to ASUU to be mindful of the fact that other sectors of the economy were competing with similar financial needs.
“We must also be mindful that there are other sectors with similar competing needs, if our universities produce graduates, such graduates must work in other sectors of the economy which must also be supported by the government.”
ASUU, on Monday, embarked on an indefinite strike over delays in implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the government agreed to in 2017, including to compel government to conclude the renegotiation of other agreements also collectively reached in 2009.
Views of some Nigerians
It is the view of many Nigerians that if there is a group of Nigerian professionals that has done more harm than good in the nation’s education sector, it is the university lecturers. First they demanded for the welfare of their members in the universities. However, when their demands became insatiable and commonplace, they resorted to calling for increased funding in the sector which they cleverly use as a cover.
A University of Abuja undergraduate who prefers anonymity said, “University lecturers, apart from greed, are also available political thugs who are paid by political opponents to disrupt sitting governments.”
“Why? If your employer says he has no money to provide desks for you in the office, will you force him or make do with any available seat?”
