Governors of the five South-east states have cried out to their kinsmen and other well-meaning Nigerians to help them prevail on the striking lecturers in their universities to return to the classrooms. Universities owned by the five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo have been shut down for over three months as the lecturers refused to teach anymore except the governors implemented the 2009 agreement the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) entered with the Federal Government.
All efforts made by the governments and the union to find a common ground towards ending the strike have not been fruitful as the two parties have refused to shift ground.
South-east governors, Theodore Orji, Abia; Peter Obi, Anambra; Martin Elechi, Ebonyi; Sullivan Chime, Enugu and Ikedi Ohakim, Imo; since the beginning of the strike have been meeting, trying to see how to resolve the issue but they had preffered that the South-east ASUU negotiate with them as individual states.However, with the crisis still persisting and ASUU forging on in the battle, the five states have formed a common front to explain their position and solicit help.
The states, in a statement issued after their meeting at the weekend and signed by the five commissioners for information in the states, Dr. ACB Agbazuere, Abia; Chief Maja Umeh, Anambra; Chief Egwu Chima, Ebonyi; Chuks Ugwoke, Enugu; and Dr. K.C. Okpaleke, Imo; passionately appealed to "Ndigbo and other well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the striking workers to call off the industrial action forthwith and return to the classroom while negotiation continues for the peaceful resolution of the crisis."
The state governments, which said they deliberately refrained from making certain comments that may further aggravate the situation, said it had become necessary for them to put the records straight as the striking workers have been spreading erroneous impression since the crisis started."We deem it appropriate to give an insight into the genesis of the persisting face-off. The strike has lingered because of the insistence of the striking lecturers and other non-academic staff members that they must be paid the same salary with their counterparts in the federal universities.
"This decision did not take into consideration that the Federal Government had clearly stated in the 2009 agreement it reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) inter alia that:" ... Whereas it is recognised by the negotiating teams that education is on the concurrent list and by this agreement, the Federal Government does not intend to and shall not compel the State Governments to implement the provisions of the agreement in respect of their universities
"We need to emphasise that the governments of the South-east states had, at one time or the other, effected an upward review of salaries of the lecturers and other workers. Today, the crux of the matter is that the state governments have made it clear that their finances cannot support such salary parity in the state-owned universities. On the other hand, the striking workers insist that it is either they earn the same salary with the Federal Government universities or they will not resume classes.
"Their insistence did not take into cognizance the fact that the South-east states are hugely disadvantaged in the current revenue-sharing formula contrary to the wrong statistics being bandied about by ASUU. It is most regrettable that the striking workers chose to blackmail the various state governments by embarking on strike and creating the erroneous impression that the state governors are insensitive to the plight of the students. Nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, the reverse is the case in that governments are mindful of the resultant astronomical rise in school fees which such pay rise will portend, "the governors said.They said that they had separately and collectively appealed to the workers to return to their duty posts while negotiation towards amicable resolution of the impasse continued, but they bluntly refused.
The governors claimed that after their appeal failed they organised a special parley at the Nike Lake Resort in Enugu for Igbo leaders and stakeholders to intervene in the crisis aimed at finding a way out of the logjam, but ASUU and their allied unions, they further said , walked out on them, including the religious and traditional leaders, who were also present because their national officers were pleaded with to excuse the people of the South-east zone to discuss the issue at stake as a family after which they would be addressed on the outcome.
"The three bishops in attendance and the royal fathers pleaded with them to return to the meeting, but they ignored all entreaties," the governors said, adding that this notwithstanding they have continued to make overtures and concessions to the striking workers.They, however, regretted that "rather than show good faith, the unions have resorted to name-calling and spreading blatant falsehood about federal allocations to the states, all in a bid to secure undeserved public sympathy. As governments, we are not handicapped; we have merely chosen the path of accommodation and negotiation in the interest of our students. "
The governors said that as responsible governments, they would not compromise the future of their students, hence their resolve to remain open to negotiation as the best option that would facilitate the resumption of normal academic work in their universities."The five state governments, first of all, deeply appreciate the concern of parents, students and other well-meaning Nigerians on this unfortunate strike action, particularly bearing in mind the harsh impacts that the dispute is having on our innocent students."XXX |
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