The
Federal Government has expressed admitted worry at the distortion in school
calendar as a result of the on going strike by the Academic Staff Union of
Universities saying that it is committed to the speedy resolution of the crisis
for the sake of Nigerian students.
Minister
of Information, Labaran Maku told state House correspondents at the end of
Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting that government was
committed to “serious negotiations” with the university lecturers.
The
Minister appealed to the students and parents to bear with government and show
more understanding as efforts are being made to resolve the contending issues
very soon.
“The
federal government has been far more worried than you think concerning the
strike in tertiary institutions, because of the disruption of the school
calendar and so government is concerned and very worried and since the onset of
the strike government has been negotiating with ASUU through the Ministry of
Labour and Productivity and the Ministry of Education.
“As at
today we know that this negotiations are going on and it is our expectation
that this strike will not get more protracted and that an understanding will be
reached soon enough to enable our students return back to school. Government is
very worried and concerned every time the school calendar is disrupted, it has
its cost to the nation, particularly the idle time our children spend at home
can lead to alot of social difficulties.
“We don’t
want school calendars to be disrupted and a lot of series of discussions have
been going on and we believe we should record some progress soon enough for
these schools to open and the Minister of Labour and education will be giving
quarter briefing on the progress of these negotiation and I know that it has
never cease.
“So we
are appealing to our people particularly parents and children of this nation to
bear with us, to show more understanding and we pray that this type of strike
will not re-occur, because the public school system suffers a lot of damage
with the perennial strikes. The universities have been relatively stable since
the advent of this Administration. The outraged strikes that we inherited we
have tried to resolve them, and if you notice in the last two years there has
not been a lot of strikes until this unfortunate one and I believe we will
overcome it and in the end both parties will appreciate the need to keep the
school calendar stable for the progress of our country. So government is
working hard to ensure we reach an agreement to resolve this problem so that or
schools can re-open” he said.
Meanwhile,
the Federal Executive Council Wednesday approved a contract of N2.99 billion
for the rehabilitation/construction of the Calabar-Ugep section of the
Katsina-Ala/Ogoja/Ugep/Calabar road.
The
earlier section of the road which is already 80 per cent complete, was awarded
for N4.6 billion, thus bringing the total contract sum for the entire road to
N7.5 billion
Minister
of State for Works, Bashir Yuguda, explained that the contractor, Piccolo
Brunelli, which handled the first phase, was asked to continue with the
extension since it was already on site and had done a very good job.
Yuguda
recalled that “the first phase of the project aimed at addressing the heavily
distressed sections of the road while other sections not captured in the
original contract scope of works would be addressed when funds became
available.
“This is
to ensure that government and the public get the full benefits of the
investment made on the roads in terms of improvement of the level of service”
he said.
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