ASUU strike: ‘Why hold Buhari by the neck’ – Presidency queries lecturers

 

The Presidency has queried the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over the lingering strike.

Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President for Media and Publicity, questioned why ASUU was grabbing the President by the neck over a contract that his government had not signed.

Shehu recalled that the disputed deal was signed by the previous Federal Government in 2009.

Shehu, who appeared on the Channels Television show Politics Today, asserted that the Buhari administration is unable to fully satiate their demands.

He acknowledged that other areas of the nation’s economy require the Federal Government’s attention.

Shehu contends that because the military needs weaponry to combat terrorists, the government cannot focus solely on ASUU.

He said: “As for ASUU, the president has the right to appeal on behalf of Nigerians, this is six months or more of the ongoing strike.

“Is it right for anyone to insist on taking 100 percent of all of those grievances that they have? Don’t forget that what is the cause of this problem is a 2009 agreement with the then government that they have no capacity to deliver upon and have passed it from one government to another.

“So, we might ask the question, why is Buhari being held by the neck? What happened in the past? Why didn’t they strangle those past administrations on these matters? That’s our worries.

“The Federal Government has put a lot of substance on the table. Will the Federal Government yield to 100 percent of ASUU demands, I want say.

“There are also other sectors of the economy yearning for attention, the military need weapons, guns to fight terrorists. We have to look into other sectors of the economy.

“The Minister of State for Education has assured that we are about to turn the corner and all these issues are about to be resolved. We have reached this level in the past and my prayer is that it would soon end.

“They have family members and leaders within the community, so they should prevail on them to resume classes and those elements that have not being resolved can be talked over.”

This is coming when Buhari urged the academic body to consider the future of students and call off the lingering industrial action.