The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has summoned the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; and the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof Emmanuel Osedeke, to an emergency meeting on Thursday, November 18, 2021.
The ASUU President is summoned over the strike threat issued by the university lecturers on Monday.
Gbajabiamila disclosed this at the plenary on Tuesday based on a motion of urgent public importance moved by Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Education, Prof Julius Ihonvbere.
Ihonvbere had prayed the House to “urge the Federal Government to urgently take all necessary measures to open a realistic negotiation with ASUU to stop the strike and implement the signed agreement in the interest of our students, their parents, the education sector and the country.”
In his ruling after the lawmakers unanimously adopted the motion, the Speaker said, “The Committees on Education, Tertiary and Basic, should investigate and report back to the House. I will meet with the Minister of Finance, Minister of Education and representatives of ASUU in my office on Thursday.”
Moving the motion titled, ‘Motion on the Urgent Need for the Federal Government to Do All Within Its Powers to Stop the Impending ASUU Strike,’ Ihonvbere said, “The House notes with dismay that once again, ASUU in Nigeria is threatening to proceed on another industrial action on a matter that has been on the front burner for so long: the implementation of negotiated and signed agreements with the Federal Government.
“The House notes also that the Federal Government has not been quite forthcoming, neither has it attached any consistent seriousness to the urgent need to reposition and refocus the education sector in line with our developmental objectives. The House is aware that the ASUU President has threatened to call out his members across the nation, if all the issues, including those of unpaid academically earned allowances and the universities revitalisation fund, are not addressed within a period of three weeks.”
The lawmaker warned that the future of Nigerian students would “once again” be negatively impacted if the impending strike by ASUU was not prevented by the Federal Government.
The professor decried that incessant strikes disrupt the academic calendar and contribute significantly to the poor quality of graduates in the country, “with far-reaching implications for national development.”
Ihonvbere added, “The House is also acknowledging that strikes encourage brain drain, migration of students abroad and low world rankings of our academic institutions.
“The House is embarrassed that the Federal Government has, since the last strike was called off in December 2020, continued to pass the buck, make excuses and engage in diversions and distractions rather than meet the terms of agreement it signed with the union.”
ASUU has given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum over the failure of the government to implement the agreement reached with it.