ASUU: If strike is the only language FG understand, we will continue speaking it

The Port Harcourt zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has reiterated that if STRIKE is the only language the federal government understands, then they will continue speaking it.

The zonal Coordinator, Stanley Ogoun, disclosed the zone’s position in a paper read to newsmen at the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education on Tuesday.

The zone accused agents of the Federal Government of executing a well-planned plot to decimate the Nigerian public university system to allow their privately owned ones to thrive.

The Coordinator added that the FG’s agents were purposely obstructing the settlement of the agreement between FG and ASUU.

He further said the Minister of Labour and Productivity, who took on the role of a conciliator, had failed, lamenting that even the intervention of the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari had yielded no results.

He appealed to members of the public to disregard claims by the government that it had paid ASUU N50billion in Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) Revitalisation Funds.

Insisting that the money had not been paid, Ogoun said the arrears of EAA up to 2019, which the government promised to pay that led to the suspension of ASUU’s last strike had remained unpaid.

He said: “You should be aware of the deliberate and well-planned efforts to decimate the Nigerian public university system so that private ones can thrive.

“Why are they afraid of competition. Let both exist side-by-side and let us see what becomes of such private-sector holdings in the educational sector.

“They are welcome development but public individuals, who intend to float such educational outfit must not use their positions in government to drive the death of publicly owned institutions to pave way for their private endeavours.

“Sadly, the public schools at the primary and post-primary levels have become comatose. Our universities must not be deliberately driven along the same dead-end for theirs to thrive.

“We will continue to resist all attempts at pricing university education out of the reach of the ordinary Nigerian via a tuition regime as the Ondo State test case”.

ASUU’s chairmen present at the gathering were, Uzoma Chima, University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT); Tonbara Kingdom, Niger Delta University (NDU); Emmanuel Ekwulo, Rivers State University (RSU); Joseph Endurance, Ignatus Ajuru University of Education (IAUE); Socrates Ebo, Federal University, Otuoke (FUO) and Donny Sigah, University of Africa, Toru-Orua.