The South West Zone of the National Association of Nigerian
Students (NANS) has urged the Federal Government to seize the opportunities
provided by the Yuletide break to address all issues involving the Academic
Staff Union of Universities to prevent another strike in the new year.
In a statement made available in Ogun State by Comrade
Emmanuel Olatunji, NANS said it was familiar with the genesis of the agreements
and disagreement between ASUU and the Federal Government, saying “the
government has shown too little or no commitment to the agreement it willingly
entered into with the ASUU in 2009 which is an indirect attack on Nigerian
students nationally.”
NANS charged the government to accept the University
Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) instead of the Integrated
Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) being rejected by the
lecturers.
“On UTAS and IPPIS controversy, we have read about the
neoliberal policies of IMF and World Bank in the past history of Education in
Nigeria, particular during the era of Structural Adjustment Programme(SAP)
which almost resulted to the decrease in number of tertiary institutions and
severe negative implications on the country but for the tenacity of Nigerian
Students and other civil rights movements.
”And we have no doubts that IPPIS as IMF/World bank
initiative cannot address the progressive desires of the Nigerian academics but
further model the nation at the mercy of these imperial nations.
“Also, we consider an attempted rejection of UTAS developed
by the Nigerian academic body by the federal government as an insult to the
Nigerian academia and it implies an indirect vote of no confidence in the
Nigerian academia.
”If the Federal Government is to be sincere enough that it
has created an enabling environment for the Nigerian academic system to produce
global standard initiatives, then why would the same government find it
difficult to adopt the product of that same system? Hence, we are demanding
that the Federal Government either adopt UTAS as proposed by ASUU and make
necessary corrections in the interest of public education in Nigeria or they
further search and create an homegrown alternative to boost the confidence and
assurance that the Nigerian education system can provide solutions to her own
challenges.”
Adetunji, who identified himself as the Zone D NANS
Coordinator, demanded that the Federal Government prioritise the payment of
revitalisation fund to bring about the needed development in the nation’s
universities, asking that student unions be given representation in the
committees on their respective campuses to monitor the effective usage of this
fund for the purpose which it was released.
“Essentially, we are making a timely intervention by this
release to ask the federal government to not only meet with ASUU, but include
all other academic and non academic bodies in our tertiary institutions to
progressively address their demands and resolve them within this period of
Christmas and New Year break.
”It would do the government well if adequate and responsible
attention is given to this to avert industrial actions in the new year,” he
said.
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