Umahi Tasks ASUU to End Strike, Says FG Cannot Borrow To Meet Union’s Demand
The governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi on Wednesday, asked the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to end the lover five months lingering strike.
Umahi urged the federal government led by President Muhammadu Buhari to shift grounds in negotiating with the union leadership.
The governor made this known while addressing the board of Trustees of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, NPTF, during in a courtesy call at his office in Abakaliki.
He lamented the increasing insecurity in the country and the education and health systems in Nigeria.
He said, “Our basic problem in the country remains security, health and education. Let me say a little about the ASUU strike. I think that our educational system is improperly articulated. University education is not for everybody and that is the truth. The basic education that every country strives to attain is secondary and vocational schools.
“There is a need to review our educational system and it mustn’t be for everybody. I don’t see how we can’t sit down with ASUU leaders and iron out this ASUU strike. I have seen how painful it is for the students to sit at home instead of being in school. But there is no way the country Nigeria will go and borrow #1.1trillion to meet ASUU demands. It’s unreasonable.
“Are ASUU’s demands genuine? yes. But we can start little by little. There must be a commitment on the side of both ASUU and the federal government. ASUU is not asking for this, for them to take to their house but for the betterment of our children. We can start by a fraction of that demands and have a program that we run with sincerity” he stated
In a related development, the Governor expressed regret over the recent attack on the Abuja Kuje correctional facility by gunmen, saying, “What happened in Abuja Kuje correctional centre shouldn’t have happened. If the place has been wired with CCTV. It shouldn’t be.
Umahi equally revealed how he partnered the Police in Ebonyi to end the sit-at-home in the state and ensure that there is peace and order in the 13 LGAs of the state.
“At a time we almost lost hope on our security system here. We can’t contest the fact that Ebonyi State remains the safest and most peaceful state, and there is no sit-at-home here. And it didn’t just come, we all fought it together and brought peace to our people. We didn’t kill them but we brought them back to our fold and reintegrate them” he stressed.
Earlier in a remark, the leader of the team, Mr. Ben Akabueze who is the Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, commended the governor for providing a good environment for the police to operate in Ebonyi state.
He said, “it has shown that a lot of things need to be done in the development of human and operational capacity of the Nigeria Police, in order to reposition it, to adequately face the security challenges facing the country,” he noted.
