₦110bn Revitalisation Fund: FG Not Ready To End Strike This Year – ASUU

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Lagos zone has said that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige’s claim that the Federal Government cannot afford the conservative ₦110 billion for the revitalisation of universities is an indicator that the government has no intention of ending the lingering strike this year.

The union in a statement issued on Sunday by Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Olusiji Sowande, urged parents, students, and the general public not to be persuaded by the statement made by Ngige.

The striking lecturers faulted the federal government for paying bail out funds to the private sector and failed to pay the revitalisation fund for the universities.

Read also: FG, ASUU Yet To Reach Agreement – Ngige

While reacting to the recent comment made by Ngige on a live TV programme, Sowande said: “The statement is laced with the hidden fact that the MoL&E and his team have no intention of ending the ongoing strike this year.

“The Nigerian public should be appalled that government team, after having a series of meetings with our Union, is just collating pertinent data required to engage our Union.

“Consequently, the government has deliberately been wasting the time and resources of our Union on meetings and engagements it was not prepared for.

“It is therefore not surprising that Dr. Chris Ngige led government team has not been able to return to negotiating table since the last engagement with our Union on November 4, 2020.”

On the claim that the federal government cannot afford the revatilisation fund, the union lamented that “only recently, government-approved ₦5 billion bailout fund to operators in the aviation sector to ameliorate the harsh realities of COVID-19 on their business operations.”