ASUU strike: NUT urges
ex-heads of state to intervene in current impasse
The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) on
Saturday urged the country’s former heads of states to mediate in the
protracted ASUU strike.
Mr Michael Olukoya, the National President of the NUT, made the
call in Abuja during the celebration of the 2013 World Teachers’ Day.
He stressed that the lack of intervention by well-meaning
Nigerians had made the industrial action to linger on.
“Let us rebuild confidence into the negotiations by bringing
powerful mediators or negotiators that enjoy the mutual confidence of the
parties into the dispute.
“Any mediation by any of the former presidents and heads of
states such as Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Gen. Abubakar
Abdulsalami or Chief Earnest Shonekan would break this logjam,” he said.
Olukoya, however, appealed to the striking university lecturers
to be sensitive to the constraints and efforts of the Federal Government.
The NUT boss, nonetheless, urged the Federal Government to do
everything within its powers to end the protracted crisis.
Besides, Olukoya said that the World Teachers’ Day celebration
was another occasion to call on the National Assembly and the Federal
Government to give primary education “a pride of place in our national life’’.
He rejected plans to cede the management of primary education to
local government councils, saying that such proposals portended a great danger
to the development of the sector.
He stressed that that local governments lacked the wherewithal,
probity, and discipline to manage primary education.
Olukoya commended the Federal Government for shelving its
earlier idea to divest its ownership of Federal Government Colleges under a
Public-Private Partnership arrangement.
He, however, urged the Federal Government to initiate pragmatic
efforts to restore the past glory of unity colleges and other secondary schools
across the country.
He decried the lowering of JAMB cut-off marks for admission into
teacher training institutions, adding that the entry qualifications should be
higher or at least be at par with those of other professional courses.
“This is the only way to ensure high quality of teaching
personnel in our schools,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Chief Nyesom Wike, the supervising Minister of
Education, said that the promotion of the country’s economic growth and
development rested squarely on the development and empowerment of quality
teachers.
He urged teachers to
avail themselves of the various career-development opportunities and welfare
schemes provided by government, aimed at improving their commitment and
competence. (NAN)
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