The Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has given his opinion on the ongoing scuffle between the Academic Staff Union of Universities -ASUU, and the Federal Government of Nigeria, which has resulted in the grounding of tertiary institutions since February 14, 2022.
Bello had made his opinion known on Friday, at a Channels TV program titled: ‘Sunrise Daily. Previously, Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education, had said that the students affected by the industrial action of ASUU should sue the union (ASUU).
At a briefing in the presidential villa on Thursday, the minister after being questioned by the press about the federal government’s plans to recompense students currently being affected by the industrial action, he had responded that it was the duty of ASUU to recompense the students and not the federal government.
Yahaya Bello furthermore, criticized the choice of words employed by the representatives of the Federal Government. He had said that the representatives had mishandled the situation which didn’t tally with the high value placed on education by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Yahaya Bello had said, “President Buhari, in a series of meetings with the governors, has always stressed the importance of education. Those who he trusted to handle the ASUU issue have not done justice to it. And I expect the FG to be decisive since the Representatives are being dismissive of the issues therein.”
“The FG should be clear regarding how ASUU is going overboard for all stakeholders to understand. We should not be comfortable keeping restive youths at home for six months and this has a direct bearing on the current insecurity in the country.”
Bello further warned the union’s leadership to be hopeful, owing to the time that had passed, while highlighting productive collaboration amongst stakeholders to reassess the delicate situation.
