WE DEMANDED N3TN, NOT N130BN ASUU TELLS FG

The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU), Dr. Nasir Fagge, has accused the federal government of not
telling Nigerians the truth about the demand of the union as regards
the government's statement that the union's demand has been met. Fagge said ASUU had a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with the federal government for it to spend over N3 trillion to turn around the fortune of all federal and state universities and also to better the lot of the educational sector in the country.
"The agreement is for the federal government to spend N800 billion
yearly for the next four years, but what we...
have is government talking
about N130 billion which is very insignificant," he said.
Speaking, Tuesday, while fielding questions from journalists at the
end of the congress of the Benue State University chapter of ASUU, in
Makurdi, Fagge said: "Our demands are genuine, and it is based on the
mutual agreement entered into in 2009 by government and ASUU. We urge
the government to be responsible to that agreement.
"President Goodluck Jonathan said the strike is being politicised but
the truth is that it is government that is playing politics with our
demands. It is as if every problem in this country is now being
politicised.
"I want to ask one basic question: Is it political to ask government
to be responsible enough to implement an agreement she willingly
entered into.
"It is important to state clearly that we are a union of
intellectuals, and we cannot accept a situation were the tail will wag
the dog. Whatever we do is for the betterment of the Nigerian
university system," Fagge said.
The ASUU national president also said: "It is important to place on
record that the struggle is a continuous one but the implementation of
the 2009 agreement is key to improving on facilities in our
universities and placing it at par with what we have in other parts of
the world."