The Presidency has urged the parents to join the Nigerian government to beg the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its strike.
The university lecturers’ union, ASUU embarked on strike on February 14, 2022, over the government’s failure to honour agreements signed by both parties.
The lecturers’ demands include the revitalisation of public universities, payment of earned academic allowances and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for payment of university lecturers’ salaries.
Speaking over the weekend in Abuja, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu insisted that the government was working to resolve the face-off.
He called on parents to join the government in begging the union to return to the classroom.
“It came like a bolt in the sky. We are shocked because it came at a time when the president is giving full commitment to resolving the ASUU strike and having the students and teachers back in the school.
“The extension, I believe, should not have been done because the spirit in which the government now is trying to resolve the problems of ASUU is such that there should also be a benefit of the doubt in favour of the government on the part of ASUU.
“The strike is unnecessarily extended and this should not have been the case. I want to advise parents to join the government in begging ASUU to end this strike, as the government is doing its part and parents are worried and they should start talking to ASUU,” he said.
