The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says the
federal government should have used the recovered $23 million Abacha loot to
meet its demands.
Emmanuel Osodeke, president of ASUU, spoke on Tuesday in an
interview on Channels Television.
ASUU has been on strike since February 2022 to protest the
non-implementation of its demands by the federal government.
Last Tuesday, the federal government and the US reached an
agreement to repatriate a new batch of funds looted by Sani Abacha, the former
Nigerian head of state.
Abubakar Malami, minister of justice and attorney-general of
the federation, said the recovered loot, which is tagged ‘Abacha-5’, has been
earmarked for the completion of the Abuja-Kano road, Lagos-Ibadan expressway
and the Second Niger Bridge.
Following the announcement, conversation has been rife on
whether the federal government is making the right decision on the recovered
loot amid the lingering ASUU strike.
Giving his take on the development, Osodeke said the federal
government would have deployed the recovered loot to education if the
government loves the sector.
“Definitely. Let’s
use a typical man as an example, you have a house and your child is sick
seriously and you were paid money that you were not expecting. Where will you
put the money?” the ASUU president asked.
“That child should be the first thing you will treat. Is it
not? Before you will start thinking about how you are going to buy clothes.
“Your universities are shut for six months. You now have
access to a fund you were not expecting, If you really love education, where
should you put the money? In that particular place. They said they don’t have
money. We need to love this country.”
Reacting to reports that ASUU had stopped negotiations with
the federal government, Osodeke said: “In Nigeria, we have so many media —
social media and what have you. They just release issues just to get
popularity. We never said so. We are open to negotiations and invitations as a
union.”
The union recently announced its decision to convert the
roll-over strike into a “comprehensive, total and indefinite” industrial
action.
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