The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has taken a swipe at the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Sonny Echono, over his recent comment that most agreements between the union and the Federal Government were reached under duress.
The union said for the permanent secretary to have made such a statement publicly spoke volumes on what it called a low level of thinking and a high level of ignorance and intellectual laziness among those in the government circle, particularly in the education sector.
The Lagos Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Dr Adelaja Odukoya, gave this position on Friday as a reaction on behalf of ASUU national to the comment credited to Mr Echono on the matter.
ASUU Lagos zone comprises the University of Lagos, Akoka; Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta; Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun Ijebu-Ode; Lagos State University, Ojo and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
Odukoya said it is disheartening that the period when bureaucrats and bureaucracy at both the federal and state levels were celebrated for what he called their quality thinking and outstanding inputs into governance and engine room of government policies and actions had gone for long in the country.
He said it is now obvious that the permanent secretary “is one of the forces working behind for the underdevelopment of tertiary education in the country and also one of the wrong advisers of the Federal Government behind its repudiation of agreements freely entered into with ASUU.”
He said rather than for him to admit “intellectual laziness, inadequacies and tardiness of government teams and its supporting bureaucracy at negotiations with ASUU and commend ASUU’s resilience, hardwork and preparedness, he is rationalizing the consistent failure and refusal of the government to honour simple agreements made with the union.
While asking rhetorically who is even in a better position between ASUU and the Federal Government to make either side enters into agreements under duress, he described Echono’s statement as unguided.
Odukoya pointed out that the basis of the agreements over the years is about proper funding of public universities and other levels of education which he said was the responsibility of the government.
He said of what benefit to the country the establishment of new universities as government at both federal and state levels are doing these days on a daily basis when the existing ones are being grossly starved of funds.
He said should Mr Echono had nothing important to tell Nigerians about what he described as the failure of the current government particularly as regards public university education and the unconscionable attempt at pushing ASUU into another avoidable industrial action, he should remain silent and not provoke the university lecturers.
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