By Seun Ibiyemi
Following indefinite strike embark on by Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU), state Pro-Chancellors has backs Federal Government on “No work No pay”.
The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities (COPSUN) in a communique made available to Nigerian NewsDirect and signed by the secretary, Marcus Awobifa called on the Federal
Government to be courageous to enforce the extant rule on “no work no pay” as failure to apply rules in the past led to
impunity in our society.
COPSUN said that “the Federal Government agrees that State Universities have the right to adopt or reject agreement reached with ASUU by the Federal Government because
education is on the concurrent legislative list.
COPSUN however reiterated that it would not be coerced to adopt hook, line and sinker any agreement to which bit was not apart yabinitio. It pledged that State-owned universities will continue to negotiate with its employees in accordance with the terms and conditions of their engagements.
Added that the university system has lost over 50 months to strikes since 1999 resulting in elongated academic
calendars with the nation paying heavy price,while the students, parents and the university workforce have been put in perpetual position to miss and lose many life opportunities.
“To maintain international best practices and be recognized among first rated Universities, the governments at Federal and State levels should improve on
the funding of their universities and enhance the welfare of the workforce, adding that state governments should
exercise restraint in establishing new universities but invest heavily on the existing ones to improve on the quality of their infrastructure.
“While we have always supported the call for reform in the education sector, COPSU restated that the ongoing strike which has been unnecessarily prolonged was obsolete and ASUU cannot continue to apply the same strategy and expect a different result.
COPSUN urged the political class to give greater attention to education with substantial increase in the budgetary
allocation, arguing that education is the key to the future of the country.
It further appealed to the various political parties jostling for power to initiate innovative reforms in the education sector in their manifestos in order to part ways with the persistent crisis in the sector.