President
Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday warned that the nationwide strike
embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities might endanger
the lives of Nigerian youths if further prolonged.
The President spoke in Ado Ekiti, the
state capital during the inauguration of the College of Engineering, Afe
Babalola University.
He urged ASUU to take into consideration
the plight of the learners as patriotic citizens, saying, “The future
of the country should not be sacrificed on the altar of industrial
disharmony. This can endanger the future of the country.
“I want to beg ASUU to reconsider its
stand on the current impasse rocking our universities, which has kept
students out of school for four months.
“This hard stand and protracted crisis
can endanger the collective destiny of millions of the future leaders.
The future of the country should not be altered on the altar of
industrial dispute.”
ASUU on Friday however ruled out the
possibility of accepting a new offer from the Federal Government,
insisting that the 2009 agreement it had with government must be fully
implemented.
The National Treasurer of the union, Dr. Ademola Aremu, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the university lecturers were not making new demands.
He said, “What we are saying is that
ASUU is not making a fresh demand. For the N600bn that is being touted,
they said N200bn would be included in the budget next year, the year
after and the year after. But the agreement of 2009, says government
will inject N1.5trn in universities in three years. Then, in 2012, the
MOU says government will inject N1.3trn in four years.
“Government now making a new offer shows
that it wants to unilaterally repudiate our agreement. There was not a
place in that agreement that said government should release N600bn in
three years. An agreement is a covenant and a covenant must be obeyed
and respected,” he said.
Also, Jonathan on Saturday, pleaded with
the disengaged workers of the unbundled Power Holding Company of
Nigeria not to embark on industrial action.
He gave the assurance that those who had yet to be paid their severance entitlements would soon be settled.
Jonathan spoke at the official
commissioning of the National Integrated Power Project 500MW Omotosho
Phase II Power Station in Omotosho, Ondo State.
“I will like to reassure all PHCN
workers and our dear labour leaders that are yet to receive their full
severance package that government is working hard to ensure that all of
them get what is due to them. There is no need for industrial action,”
the President said.
He described the event as part of his
administration’s efforts to provide adequate, reliable and sustainable
electricity supply to Nigerians.
He said with the implementation of his
administration’s power sector reform, things could only get better for
the country and its citizens.
The President said his administration’s target was to boost power supply in the country by 4,700MW through the 10 NIPP projects.
Having commissioned two of the projects
starting with that of Geregu, Kogi State, Jonathan said the
commissioning of the remaining eight would be concluded before the end
of first quarter of next year.
He added that at completion, all the 10 projects would be fully privatised.
“Our interest is on how we can stabilise
light and we promise that before the middle of next year, light will be
reasonably (I am not saying total) stabilised in this country. Any
difficulty we still experience from fluctuation in supply should be
understood to be temporary, not endemic again.”
Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State
said his government and the people of the state were elated to host such
a gigantic project that would not only serve the people of the state
but indeed all Nigerians.
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