Wike, ignorant of labour laws – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has said that the threat to sack striking university lecturers issued by the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, is a proof that the minister is ignorant of labour laws.

ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, said at a press conference in Abuja that a serious government should be ashamed of the rot in the universities which the union had been struggling to tackle.
His statement was titled, ‘Misrepresentations and intimidation: How not to manage the crisis in the
university system’.
 He said, “It is unfortunate that close to 20 years of national life have not taught politicians and their government the simple lesson that the job of lecturers is bound by the university statutes, which stipulate conditions for employment, promotions and dismissal of lecturers at all levels.
“That a minister of education would pronounce a threat of mass sacking of academic staff is a tragedy of huge proportion for Nigeria and Africa.
“While ASUU has been struggling for conditions in which Nigerian students would benefit from a very much enhanced academic environment in
teaching and research facilities, the Minister of Education is thinking of a thoughtless mass sack as a solution to the problems arising from government’s non-implementation of an agreement reached with ASUU as if Nigerian rulers have made no intellectual progress since (late Gen. Sani) Abacha.”
Wike, had at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday warned that any lecturer that failed to resume on or before Wednesday would be sacked.
He had also told the vice-chancellors to open attendance registers for lecturers to indicate their resumption date.
He directed the vice-chancellors to advertise vacancies (internal and external) in their institutions if the lecturers failed to resume as directed.
But ASUU described the Federal Government’s threat to sack lecturers as “a tragedy of huge proportion for Nigeria and Africa” and that it would only compound the crisis.
“The salvos that have been coming out, allegedly from the Minister of Education make one to wonder whether the person that is charged with the responsibility of superintending over the Nigeria’s education system has the wherewithal to handle such a vital national assignment,” he said.
The union also accused the government of embarking on a deliberate ploy to weaken the public universities in favour of private
universities.
It said it would return to the negotiation table if government showed commitment to solve the problems in the sector.
ASUU said government through the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission had been feeding the public with “rumours, lies and mischiefs” to mislead the Nigerian public. Read more