By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Sunday, tasked President Muhammadu Buhari to embrace the path of honour and sign the already renegotiated agreements with the union.
ASUU expressed this in a statement by the University of Ibadan Chairman of the union, Professor Ayo Akinwole, titled, “for still surviving in a country that lacks workers’ friendly government; Nigerian workers deserve a salute”.
Professor Akinwole declared that signing the renegotiated agreement with ASUU will improve the working conditions and make Nigeria universities look like a real knowledge ecosystem.
The ASUU Chairman however, charged Nigerian workers to rise and resist a system which has consistently expose them to suffering under the burden of current political and financial corruption of the ruling class.
Describing the present governmentin the country “as unfriendly to workers”, he emphasized the need for Nigeria workers to resist being used to terrorize themselves through the adoption of divide and rule by the government, saying, ” the current Buhari administration anti-workers policy has made Nigerian workers poorer.”
” There is increasing rise in prices of commodities and services.This administration has failed Nigerians in the following ways: Non implementation of minimum wage policy of the government by all the states; Inappropriate payment platform of salary which denies workers the opportunity to plan for the future; Embargo on employment in federal Universities has turned workers to slaves; workers have become hopeless because there is no succession plan” he said.
The ASUU Chairman added, ” High level of insecurity has negatively affected safety of life and properties; Political instability in Nigeria – more than ever before this government polarized the country along religion and ethnicity; Citizenship in the Nigerian state has been compromised due to wrong attitude of government that does not see the need to promote integration”
” The current administration lacks the capacity to unite the country and provide needed forum for the future; and Our youth have become negatively aggressive and have given in to moral lapses.”
Professor Akinwole lamented that traditional rulers in Nigeria of looking away while their people suffer while religious leaders have become “chattered prophets, prayer contractors, ministers of their own bellies and priests of violence.
Lauding the courage of Nigerian workers to dare the odds and survive under the precarious conditions under this administration, the ASUU Chairman said “on this day, we observe moments of silence for the Nigerian people and workers who have been victims of terrorism and brutality of the ruling administration”.
” Today, we remember the thousands of Nigerians who have been buried in mass and unmarked graves, with no opportunity by family and loved ones to bid them farewell; we share the grief of parents who are in mourning over their dead and missing children. It is sad to note that in the face of the enduring grief and hopelessness of Nigerians, the political class is in a frenzy of political carnivals. God shall indeed judge the wicked.”
