We Demanded For 3 Trillion, Not 130 Billion...ASUU President

The National President of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr.
Nasir Fagge, has accused the federal
government of not telling Nigerians the
truth about the demand of the union
as regards the government’s statement
that the union’s demand has been met.
According to Fagge, ASUU had a
Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with
the federal government for it to spend
over N3 trillion to turn around the
fortune of all federal and state
universities and also to better the lot of
the educational sector in the country.
“The agreement is for the federal
government to spend N800 billion yearly
for the next four years, but what we have
is government talking about
N130 billion which is very insignificant,”
he said.
Fagge made the revelation Tuesday, while
fielding questions from journalists, at the
end of the congress of the Benue State
University chapter of ASUU, in Makurdi.
He said: “Our demands are genuine, and
it is based on the mutual agreement
entered into in 2009 by government and
ASUU. We urge the government to
be responsible to that agreement.
“President Goodluck Jonathan said the
strike is being politicised but the truth is
that it is government that is playing
politics with our demands. It is as if every
problem in this country is
now being politicised.
“I want to ask one basic question: Is it
political to ask government to be
responsible enough to implement an
agreement she willingly entered
into.
“It is important to state clearly that we
are a union of intellectuals, and we cannot
accept a situation were the tail will wag
the dog. Whatever we do is
for the betterment of the Nigerian
university system.”
In addition, the ASUU national president
said: “It is important to place on record
that the struggle is a continuous one but
the implementation of the 2009
agreement is key to improving on facilities
in our universities and placing it at par
with what we have in other parts of the
world.”