The Campaign for Equal Rights and Opportunities for all Nigerians, CERON, has urged the Federal Government to end its lingering face off with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, by paying their withheld salaries saying the crisis has thrown the education sector in disarray.
The group said the Federal Government is being unfair to Nigerian youths who are bearing the brunt of the dispute stressing that the crisis has stagnated education in the country.
The Secretary of CERON, Mr. Francis Odiir in a statement Tuesday in Makurdi said it was unbelievable that the Federal Government could allow the crisis linger despite promises made through the Speaker of the House of Representatives that there was going to be a truce.
According to him, “after the intervention of the Speaker of the House of Representatives that gave all Nigerians hope of a peaceful resolution of the crisis given the promises made on the side of governmemt, we are surprised to see what is going on now.
“We all had expected that the government would pay the lecturers as agreed so that our public universities can fully come alive again with students and their lecturers going about their academic work with all seriousness given the lost time.
“It is therefore shocking to see that the government has resorted to frustrating all efforts at getting ASUU members back to work so that students can fully return to classes. The Federal government by its actions seems not to be disposed to having its issues with ASUU resolved to enable students go back to school.
“But they must realise that the implication of what is happening now is that the education sector in Nigerian has largely become stagnated. Those who finished from Secondary Schools cannot secure admission to higher institutions except those whose parents can afford private universities, and in the present day Nigeria how many can afford that.
“So the fact of the matter is that the education sector is currently in disarray because of this crisis. That is why we are appealing to the Federal Government to save the sector by paying ASUU members their accumulated salaries so that we can have peace and also have the universities up and running again.
“Nobody needs to remind the government that Nigerians are very unhappy with a lot of things in the country and it would do the government a lot of good if the ASUU crisis is amicably resolved.”
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