The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE) chapter, Delta State on Wednesday joined their colleagues across the country to carry out pre-planned campus protect against the alleged casualization of University lecturers, calling on President Mohammadu Buhari to sack Dr. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment.
The sacking of Ngige who they accused of allegedly implementing Boko Haram policy, according to a statement read to newsmen by Comrade E. O. Agbalagba, Chairperson, FUPRE ASUU branch during the protest, is the only antidote to rescue the Nigerian university education system from looming collapse.
Comrade Agbalagba said ASUU-FUPRE is calling on President Mohammadu Buhari to rescue Nigeria university education from the looming collapse by relieving the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige of his job, just as “We also call for the Emeritus Prof. Nimi-Briggs renegotiation committee report for signing and immediate implementation, pay all the backlog of salaries arrears and EAA to our members.
“These, we believe, will lead to the reverse of the bad image these elements and agents of government have earned this present administration.
“We also call on all well-meaning Nigerians, Stakeholders in the education industry, parents, students, and youths of Nigeria to lend their voices in this clarion call to save Nigerian Public University System and prevent it from going the way of our public primaries and secondary schools”.
The ASUU-FUPRE branch Chairperson also recalled that it is no longer news that Mallam Adamu Adamu has finally come out to declare to the public the reality of his stewardship as Minister for Education, being the longest-serving minister of Education since Nigeria had her independence in 1960.
“He publicly acknowledged the facts that he failed woefully as a Minister of Education. One thing the Hon. Minister failed to do was to confess and expose other agents of government that he conspired with to destroy the Nigeria Educational system and most importantly the tertiary education in Nigeria, the chief of which is Mr. Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment.
“The plummeting of the standard of Education in Nigeria at all levels in the past seven years of the Buhari administration is io doubt a reason to be worried about.
“This administration enjoyed the support of the masses principally for three major campaign promises to Fight decisively against corruption, tackle insecurity, of which Boko haram was at the front burner, and reposition Nigeria’sEducation system to regain its pride of place in the comity of nations, by addressing all the challenges that are bedeviling the university system and that are compelling the Academia to embark on strike actions frequently.
“The University system has been worst hit by the incompetent, unprofessional and ill-prepared posture of the Labour Minister in handling all labour related issues, especially issues that concern the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“We diligently x-rayed and followed his policies and programmes in the Ministry of labour and productivity and come to a regrettable conclusion that the Minister is doing the bidding of the Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden) for the common masses.
“The deliberate policies to destroy public universities and to make university education out of the reach of Nigeria speak the obvious that the ASUU must rise to the occasion as it has done in the time past to defend and protect the interest of Nigerian populace, especially our youths who are the future of this country and the pride and hope of our nation.
“Christ Ngige’s handling of the just suspended industrial action embarked upon by ASUU speaks volumes of his unhidden hatred for Tertiary education in the University and his passion to fulfil the yearning of his surrogate paymasters.
“The systematic collapse of our university system is steering us all in the face if nothing is done to salvage the current situation. We have a resemblance to the university system to date in Nigeria due to the ASUU struggle.
“Our union has been at the forefront to fight for the autonomy and revitalization of the Nigerian University system to make it work for us all. However, some agents of the third force are hellbent to destroy the remains of our universities, but we pray that God will not allow them.
“Nigerians will recall that our Union went on strike to press home our long-standing demands on the implementation of the 2009 FG/ ASUU agreement, revitalization of our universities, the constitution of the visitation panels and release of public white papers to account for the sums of money disbursed to our universities administration, renegotiation of our overdue collective bargained agreement, payment of the arrears of the Earned Academic Allowances, abolition of the fraudulent IPPIS and adoption of the Unified Tertiary Accountability Solution (UTAS), the proliferation of state universities now becoming constituency projects and increase attention through the ejection of a good percentage of the national budget into education.
“These demands of ASUU have both financial and non-financial components. The union never left the government to guess how to raise funds to meet up the financial components of our demands, the union has gone ahead to suggest ways and where the funding can be gotten without any effect on the government purse or budget. But in all these our Hon. Minister who prides himself as a conciliator and mediator, saw no good and genuineness in the demands of ASUU but rather, tolls the line of destabilizing the University system.
“In the months leading to the suspension of the strike action, Nigerians saw the real and true man of the minister who all along had the voice of Esau and the hand of Jacob.
“He jettisoned all known procedures of conciliations and arbitration to procure a backyard judgment against the genuine agitation of our union and hurriedly made the media his second home to paint ASUU in a bad light as a union that does not obey the law of the land. ASUU is a law-abiding Union.
“Our union has been vindicated today that the Minister was not just fighting to ensure that universities should be open for students to go back to classes to study but pursuing the agenda to superintend the destruction of Nigerian Universities as his body language has ever been.
“Mr. Chris Ngige has finally iced the cake by reducing Nigerian intellectuals to casual workers in Nigeria by introducing pro rata payment of salaries to universities workers.
“There is no doubt in our mind that in the days to come, the Hon. Minister of Labour, Employment and unproductivity who has assumed the position of de facto President of the federal republic of Nigeria will write to the Finance Minister and direct her to deduct from the salaries of ASUU members, days on the weekends when they render “no work” and public holidays in every month of the years” he declared.
