A communication expert, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, Thursday, said the former President Goodluck Jonathan has already lectured President Muhammadu Buhari-led government on how to resolve the strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Recall that ASUU has been on strike for almost seven months to protest the federal government’s refusal to sign and implement the 2009 renegotiated agreement with the union and revitalisation of public universities.
Also, the National Industrial Court on Wednesday ordered the striking lecturers to end their seven-month-old industrial action.
But, Shaibu, who is also the Special Assistant, Public Communications to Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, while featuring on Daily Politics, a Trust TV programme, said the court would not resolve the crisis
He said: “If I were a lecturer, I’ll just go to class, cross my legs and watch the students. This court issue can’t resolve the crisis. They are only scratching the surface, and that goes to show that they have no capacity to resolve this problem.
“Of course, this has been a recurring decimal. But then it’s been better handled…. The other day, President Goodluck Jonathan, offered free tutorials to them on how to manage the strike.
“The danger is this; it’s not just about ASUU. It is the Nigerian public. I want to be incumbent on ASUU to educate and sensitise the mass of our people, the more on their demands. It’s not about lecturers’ salaries. It’s about the collapse of the educational system. Likewise, it’s about the decayed educational system.
“We have over 1.9million students minimum that write JAMB every year in the last three years, more than less than 1.9 million. And the current capacity of our universities oscillating between 250 and 400,000 students, meaning about 1.4million students who would write JAMB cannot even have access to university education.
“Where does that leave us? We now have one called issues of educational tourism in Ghana. Some even go to Benin. When they go there, they contribute to the economy of Benin Republic, contribute to the economy of Ghana. These students rent houses, they pay school fees, they buy food and do other things. And tomorrow we begin to complain that nothing’s working in Nigeria. How can things work?”
