…says taking the striking lecturers to court is a frivolous, ill-thought step
By Mandy Park
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has condemned the position of the Nigerian government on the lingering Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.
This is as the group appealed to the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government to urgently honour its agreements with ASUU to ensure the immediate reopening of the public universities rather than the resort to the National Industrial Court.
CAPPA noted that resorting to the National Industrial Court by the government for solution was aimed to armtwist the union that is fighting for an improved university system.
CAPPA’s in a statement it issued in Lagos in reaction to the Federal Government’s decision to file a case pursuant to Section 17 of the Trade Dispute Act before the Industrial Arbitration Court in Abuja asked government to do the right thing: honouring the agreement it entered into with ASUU.
In the statement, the CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said: “Taking the striking lecturers to court is a frivolous, intemperate and an ill-thought step that has the potential to further worsen the state of industrial relations in the education sector while keeping the gates of public universities closed for as long as possible’’.
Oluwafemi pointed out that the development was not only worrisome but revealed the mindset of those in charge of Nigeria’s destiny, who had opted to using the court to armtwist the lecturers in their legitimate cause out of all options available to the government.
Said Oluwafemi: ‘‘It is the consistent failure of the federal government to live up to its obligations and agreements to bolster public education and university systems in Nigeria that has led to the indefinite closure of universities.
“The government must own up to this fact instead of grandstanding to compel university lecturers to work under terrible conditions.
“If the federal government succeeds in its quest to force lecturers back to the classrooms, it would recourse to victimization of lecturers and other acts of impunity reminiscent of the military era. Unfortunately, such a path will only bring short relief.
“Within a very short time, our public universities will be back to the same situation and another round of strikes.
“Even though such heavy-handed measures can easily encourage a loss of faith in the country thereby worsening the acute brain drain challenge Nigeria is facing, with more lecturers finding their way out of the country in search of greener pastures.”
Oluwafemi further advised the federal government to stop going round in circles and instead go back to the agreements it had with the lecturers and honour them to the letter.
“We anticipate that the Industrial Court will compel the government to toe this path in the interest of the education sector, the wellbeing of lecturers and the interest of students who are home now wasting away,” he said.
Recall that the government is challenging the continued strike by ASUU which has lasted seven months.
