*Affected students should “take ASUU to court” to get compensated for time wasted, not FG – Minister
*Wonders lecturers chose to go on strike for N1.2trn despite Buhari’s N2.5trn already spent on education
By KEMI KASUMU
Adamu argued that in spite of the N2.5 trillion expended on education by President Buhari’s administration through the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) as well as Universal Basic Education (UBEC), surpassing the N1.2 trillion demanded by ASUU, lecturers have maintained their position to embark on a needless strike.
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has said the implementation of the Federal Government’s ‘no-work-no-pay’ policy is the only condition delaying the truce with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He said this Thursday while featuring at the 47th Session of the State House Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, which The DEFENDER participated in via zoom.
The Minister said ASUU had not called off the strike because of their demand that all salaries during the industrial action be paid, a request he said the government turned down.
He said other issues had been sorted out with the union.
Adamu, however, said that four of five unions in the tertiary institutions across the country had agreed to call off strike within the next one week, stressing that such decision can only be announced after meeting with their executives.
On the question of compensating students for time wasted from the six-month strike, he said it was the responsibility of ASUU to do that and not the Federal Government.
The minister said the affected students should “take ASUU to court” to get compensated for the time wasted.
According to him, the Federal Government bears no liability to compensate millions of students grounded for six months over lost time.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, denied getting a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the protracted strike in two weeks.
He insisted that he will not succumb to ASUU’s demand for their members to be paid the backlog of salaries withheld within the period of six months that they were on strike, noting that it is the penalty for their action.
The minister also disclosed that four of the university-based unions will likely call off their strike within the next one week while that of ASUU remains uncertain.
Adamu argued that in spite of the N2.5 trillion expended on education by President Buhari’s administration through the Tertiary Education Fund (TETFUND) as well as Universal Basic Education (UBEC), surpassing the N1.2 trillion demanded by ASUU, lecturers have maintained their position to embark on a needless strike.
However, he, noted that ASUU had begun consultations with their members to determine whether to call off their strike as well.
The minister also faulted figures by UNICEF as well as the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs pegging the number of out-of-school children at 10.5 million.
According to him, that figure has since 2020 declined to 6.9 million.
This is as he said the government has further recorded impressive enrollment in the last year, particularly in frontline states such as Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, Rivers, and Ebonyi states.
The minister equally added that the attitude of Northern governors depicts that they are trying to destroy the primary school education system, except for a few, no governor can boast of a sound primary education in their states.
According to him, lack of cooperation from states has crippled his ability to intervene as minister to help states rescue primary schools as it will amount to nothing if the foundation of the education system is already rotten.
