Senate Adopted Motion Urging ASUU to Return to Work

The Senate then considered a motion titled 'Appeal to Academic Staff Union of Universities to call off the Strike Action and Return to Work'. The Chairman of the Committee on Education - Sen. Uche Chukwumerije lead the debate on the motion after the motion was moved by the Senate Leader. 

Sen. Chukwumerije gave the background history of the incidents leading up to the strike starting from the 2007 agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU. The Senators generally debated the different stances of both parties to the agreement leading to the ASUU Strike which has left students staying at home for months. Sen. Abdul Ningi in his speech noted that it is a moral duty to know that once agreements are reached and signatures appended, parties are bound by their obligations under the agreement. 

He appealed that ASUU returns back to the classrooms on the guarantee that the FGN will honour its obligations; and suggested that the Senate and in fact, the National Assembly should serve as a guarantor to the implementation of this agreement, since they appropriate all federal funds.In same line, Sen.Sekibo and other Senators that spoke, while trying not to apportion blames, appealed to the striking lecturers to go back to school while they work out the details. They all however had a general consensus that agreements are made to be kept and should be kept.

The Senate President at the end of the lengthy debate on the issue, noted that the essence of the motion is to find a way forward, to offer a solution and not to apportion blames. He appealed to all parties involved to be ready to shift ground, as it might be impossible to reach a settlement where the both parties aren't ready to compromise. He begged ASUU on behalf of the Senate to come back to work. He conceded that Nigerians have seen their perspective, but that if they extend their strike beyond this, they will begin to loose public sympathy. On the ASUU agreement, he stated that when a leader says he must accomplish this, he is morally duty bound to accomplish it. He also attacked the competence of the negotiators sent to e FGN with ASUU. He stated that ASUU took advantage of the ignorance of those people sent to negotiate. He noted it is obvious that the agreement is a difficult piece of paper to implement. He made a passionate appeal to all the parties involved to come to a compromise. 

The Senate made the following resolutions:

i. Appealed to the striking lecturers to suspend the strike and return too work to prevent further devaluation of the country's educational fortunes.

ii. Mandated the committee oeducation to liaise with the Federal ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission, the Academic Staff Union of Universities and all other relevant stakeholders to proffer lasting solution to stem further strikes in the education sector.

iii. Urged the Senate President and Chairman of the National Assembly to engage Mr President and the leadership of ASUU with a view to finding a lasting solution to end the strike.

Special Thanks to Senator - Abubakar Bukola Saraki