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Jonathan Considers Thatcherite Anti-union Laws To Break ASUU Strike by Anuoluwap(m): 12:29am On Oct 01, 2013 |
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that his government may be considering introducing new labour laws as a means of curtailing what he calls the excesses of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other labour unions. ASUU has been on strike for three months now as the union and the government are at loggerheads over the implementation of a 2009 agreement. ASUU is insisting the agreement be implemented in full but the government says that it cannot afford the N92bn (£360m),which full implementation of the deal will cost. Several meetings to resolve the impasse have failed and it appears that the government is now considering introducing Thatcher-like legislation to break the strike. Revealing this yesterday during a presidential media chat in Abuja, President Jonathan urged striking ASUU members to return to work in the interest of their students and the education sector. He added that it was inconceivable that lecturers in state-owned universities would go on strike over issues concerning the allowances of lecturers in federal universities. According to the president, such a situation would not occur if well-guided and well-thought out laws were in place regulating labour union activities. President Jonathan added: “I did not expect the ASUU strike to last three months. I think politics is creeping into ASUU." He added that his administration has done all within its power to meet the demands of the university lecturers. This he said includes setting up a technical committee to carry out inventories of the universities while it has also already set aside N100m for the provision of infrastructure in the tertiary institutions, which is one of ASUU's key demands. In addition, President Jonathan said his government is already using funds budgeted for other expenses to intervene in universities but pointed out that the sector's problems cannot be solved overnight. He added that there are certain things in the 2009 agreement that are difficult to implement, pointing out that the payment of earned allowances should be paid for from the universities' internally generated revenue. President Jonathan added: “The allowances ASUU is asking for should normally be paid from their internally generated revenue, as we are only assisting. ASUU should work with my government to improve education." He also queried the participation of state owned universities in the ongoing strike, arguing that it is against the principle of federalism. President Jonathan maintained that in a federal system where states are semi- autonomous, the federal government is not responsible for their universities. Talking on a range of other issues, President Jonathan said claims that the country is broke because of the shortfall in the amount of revenue available to share among the three tiers of government as false. He pointed out that over 50% of the investors in the Nigerian capital market are foreigners and if it is true that Nigeria is bankrupt, such investors would have divested from the market. “How can anyone wake up from a dream and say Nigeria is bankrupt. I had the privilege of ringing the New York Stock Exchange bell and President Obama said it is because the Nigerian economy is improving,” President Jonathan added. On the state on insecurity in the country, President Jonathan lamented the early Sunday morning massacre of over 40 students at the an agriculture college in Yobe State. He added, however, that the military has been successful in confining the terrorists to small sections of states where they are active and they now occasionally come out to attack soft targets in remote areas to embarrass the government. President Jonathan also said he believes that his government is winning the war against corruption. He added that there is so much talk about corruption in the oil industry because there are those who want to get oil blocks, contracts and other favours from the sector and most of their stories are false. www.nigerianwatch.com/news/2673-jonathan-considers-thatcherite-anti-union-laws-to-break-ASUU-strike |
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