Buhari Appeals to ASUU, Others to Call Off Strike, University Workers Reject Plea
Directs CoS, labour minister, others to promptly resolve grey areas in lecturers' demand Rabiu, Ovia, Adenuga, Onyema, others honoured
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday pleaded with members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other industrial unions in governmentowned universities that are presently on strike to call of their industrial action in the interest of the students.
But in reaction, the university lecturers and non-teaching staff turned down the appeal by the federal government to go back to their posts while negotiations on the grievances continue.
The president, who made the passionate plea at the 19th National Productivity Day and the conferment of the National Productivity Order of
Merit Award (NPOM) on 48 eminent Nigerians and organisations in both the public and private sectors, at Abuja, said it was high time the university lecturers considered the plight of students and call off the ongoing strike.
Buhari also urged students in the nation's public tertiary institutions to exercise patience, saying his government was striving to address the nagging issues in the university system within the ambit of resources available.
He disclosed that he had directed his Chief of Staff, the Ministers of Labour and Employment, Education, Finance, Budget and National Planning, to immediately bring all parties to the negotiation table to again critically look at the grey areas in the demands of ASUU and all other university-based labour unions.
Commenting on the theme of this year’s celebration ‘‘Achieving Higher Productivity through Improved Education System,’’ the president pledged that the federal government would continue to do everything possible to uplift the standard of the educational system in the country, adding that his administration recognised that the future of any nation is premised on the standard of its educational system.
“Therefore, if we desire to transform Nigeria into a competitive, strong, vibrant, productive and sustainable economy, improving our educational system should be accorded the highest priority,” he added.
Reeling out notable achievements in the education sector including the drastic reduction of the number of out of school children from 10.1million in 2019 to 6.9 million in 2020, automatic employment for graduates of education, review of the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, among others, the president said more still needed to be done.
According to him: ‘‘Quality educational system is good not just for the national economy; it is also good for the citizens.
“Ignoring the productivity dimension of education would endanger the prosperity of future generations, with widespread repercussions for poverty and social exclusion.
“It will be difficult to improve our economic performance and overall productivity, without improving our educational system.
“Government notes the emergency situation in our educational system with particular reference to the dearth of qualified and dedicated teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at all levels of our educational system."
To address these challenges, Buhari said his administration had reviewed the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, while years of service have now been moved from 35 to 40 years to encourage more graduates to join the teaching profession.
The president also said government had approved a special salary scale for teachers in Basic and Secondary schools including provisions for rural posting allowance, Science teachers allowance and peculiar allowance, while prioritising timely promotion and prompt payment of salaries.
He further stressed that the reintroduction of bursary award to education students in universities and Colleges of Education comes with assurance of automatic employment upon graduation as well as payment of stipends to Bachelor of Education students.
Congratulating all the awardees for their various accomplishments and well deserved recognition, Buhari said they have been carefully selected from a multitude of competitors, saying ‘‘this award should spur you to greater heights.’’
He also commended the Chairman and members of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award Committee, including the management and staff of National Productivity Centre for a job well done, urging the recipients of the merit award and Nigerians to make productivity their watchword.
Earlier in his remarks, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said since the inception of the award in 1991, 382 individuals and 97 organisations have been honoured with the NPOM.
Dr. Stella Adadevoh and Mr. Babatunde Lawal, received posthumous awards at the 2019/2020 edition of the National Productivity Day.