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The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has blamed a previous administration for the continuous strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He said that a past government shouldn’t have entered into an agreement with ASUU to pay them ₦1.3trillion when it knew fully well that it couldn’t pay it. He, however, didn’t mention, specifically, the administration he was referring to.
Adamu made this revelation while answering a question from a Corp member on the persistent and seemingly unending strikes by ASUU, at a Town Hall meeting on security issues held in Bauchi State. The meeting, with the theme, ‘Engaging the Youth and Communities’ was organised by the State government at the instance of the federal government.
The minister stated that the insolvable problem that had resulted in incessant strikes by the ASUU was that “a government in this country went and sat down with ASUU and agreed on some conditions that it would pay universities N1.3 trillion”.
“I do believe that while they were signing that agreement, they knew that it is not possible for them to implement it. There is just nowhere N1.3trn will come out from.
He said: “I think the basic problem between the ASUU side and the government side has been deciding on what to do about this N1.3 trillion. If a government appends its signature to an agreement, it is an agreement”.
Adamu disclosed that the government of the day, like most Nigerians, was not pleased with the strike: “We are not happy that our campuses are closed, we are not happy that the calendar of schools has been disrupted. But the fault is the government that signed to do what it knew it could not do.”
He, however, promises that the matter will be resolved soon. “But I assure you that we are on the verge of reaching an agreement and very, very soon, we will reach an agreement with them,” he said.
Ganiu Oloruntade
