The Federal Government did not calculate the cost implication of the agreement it signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities in 2009, Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, has said.

Maku, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, also alleged that ASUU too was unaware of the cost implication before the representatives of both parties signed the agreement.

He also disclosed that the government had offered additional N10bn for the payment of the allowances of the striking teachers which they turned down.

Maku added that the Federal Government spent more than half of its monthly income on salaries of public servants.

The minister said, “One of the things that have tormented all of us is the ASUU strike that has lasted for over three months. The strike arose out of a disagreement on the payment of allowances to our university teachers.

“There was an agreement in 2009 or so and sitting allowance was listed under the agreement. As at the time they were listed, neither the government nor ASUU was aware of the exact figures it was going to take to pay those allowances because the allowances were not calculated.

“In the course of this period, the allowances were calculated and the gross began to emerge. ASUU made a demand for the payment and government did not say no. The agreement was supposed to be implemented by the various university governing councils. They were also supposed to come largely from Internally Generated Revenue.”

Maku said in spite of these, when ASUU threatened to go on strike, government entered into negotiation with the lecturers in order to avert the action.

He said, “We also received a report on infrastructure requirement in the universities. President Goodluck Jonathan promised to deal with both problems as our finances would permit. We agreed there was the need to intervene seriously in the universities.

“What happened under this period is that government then went into negotiation with ASUU, put N30bn on the ground to enable the university councils to pay the allowances to the teachers and promised to pay the rest as time goes on. ASUU said no. They needed about N90bn at the same time.

“We negotiated with them until negotiation broke down. In spite of the breakdown of negotiation, the Federal Government convened a meeting chaired by the Vice President of the country in our continued determination to end the strike. Government again promised another N10bn for the payment of the allowances. That brings it to N40bn for the payment of the allowances.”

Maku urged parents and Nigerians to appeal to the striking teachers to call off the strike. He also called on the lecturers to put away politics from the struggle and consider the impact of the long industrial action on the development of their students.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, has called on the Federal Government and the lecturers to resolve their differences amicably.

Speaking during the 29th convocation of the university in Ilorin on Tuesday, he said both parties should consider the interest of the students and use dialogue to resolve the contentious areas.

Also, President, Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Shehu Sani, on Tuesday, condemned critics of the current strike by university teachers, describing them as ‘lackeys in government’.

Sani, in statement in Abuja, noted that the ASUU strike was “a patriotic act of resistance against bad and visionless leadership in the country.”

He said the strike was also “a genuine struggle to save the education sector from total collapse.”

SOURCE: http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-ASUU-didnt-know-agreements-cost-implication-maku/

Wasn't it the incumbent President that negotiated the agreement with the ASUU when he was the VP and sent it to the then President to sign?

How come he didn't know the cost implications? Why is he reneging on the agreement he negotiated?

I just feel that Mr Labaran Maku is indirectly exposing the incompetency of his Principal.

obi4eze: Wasn't it the incumbent President that negotiated with ASUU when he was the VP and sent it to the then President to sign?

How come he didn't know the cost implications? Why is he reneging on the agreement he negotiated?

Jonathan intentionally signed the agreement then in order to bring down Yar'Adua's government. The evil that men do lives with them.

This is just a simple case that they re refusing to solve;
They should just use the recent Abacha loot recovered, the #4billion food and the #1.2 billion news paper allowance by the president and they should return the 6 limousines and armoured bmw cars Stella got and get the monies back to solve the problem.

#mythought

simpleseyi:

Jonathan intentionally signed the agreement then in order to bring down Yar'Adua's government. The evil that men do lives with them.

Hmmm... But Sir, how do you know he did it for such purpose? Whether he did it to bring down the late President's government or not, let him just be a gentleman and keep the agreement. It would have been a different thing if there was no agreement.

emmysenior: This is just a simple case that they re refusing to solve;
They should just use the recent Abacha loot recovered, the #4billion food and the #1.2 billion news paper allowance by the president and they should return the 6 limousines and armoured bmw cars Stella got and get the monies back to solve the problem.

#mythought

I even wonder what they do with the money they recover from Late General Sani Abacha's loot. The other day, they announced the sum of 185 million Euros (about 37 billion Naira) found in Liechtenstein.

And this is coming from the minister of information? Never trust this federal government

I see no reasons why ASUU should insist on continuing with this strike despite all these FG relentless offers.There is more than meet d eye. They have other cynical motives attach to this their avoidable strike.Without mincing word i will say it Is obvious that this politics stained strike is now aimed at sabotaging d govt progress by some forces within.
ASUU must come back to their senses and accept this good, mouthwatering offer from d govt.It is a pity that the victims of this strike are d students and the fact they have no say in it makes it more pitiable.

obi4eze:

Hmmm... But Sir, how do you know he did it for such purpose? Whether he did it to bring down the late President's government or not, let him just be a gentleman and keep the agreement. It would have been a different thing if there was no agreement.

But sir d Agreement is just to ridiculous. Dere is no were in d Agreement did gov or ASUU think about the Nigerian Educational system, it was an agreement of how FG would pay "Universities" 400billion every year for 4 years. What about d rest of the educational sector. Yeah its ezy to attack FG for dere misuse of Public fund but, dat "wasteful life" style is a Nigerian problem cos even if the FG has d money to pay, I swear on the soul of our falling heros dat dey (ASUU) will waste dat fund and spend it on demselves. #fact. Dey just can't count 3trillion and give ASUU without any serious reform agenda or has anyone see or heard about ASUU's reform agenda for all Education sector in Nigeria, if u have it please make we see.

99/100:
I see no reasons why ASUU should insist on continuing with this strike despite all these FG relentless offers.There is more than meet d eye. They have other cynical motives attach to this their avoidable strike.Without mincing word i will say it Is obvious that this politics stained strike is now aimed at sabotaging d govt progress by some forces within.
ASUU must come back to their senses and accept this good, mouthwatering offer from d govt.It is a pity that the victims of this strike are d students and the fact they have no say in it makes it more pitiable.

What is mouth watering about their offer And what is political about holding someone accountable for their actions Why do you people keep thinking as though you've got a vacuum in your skull?? An agreement was made and all the union is asking for is implementation!!!!

How on earth could the government tell nigerians it is cash strapped with all these news of unbridled corruption we get daily?? The finance minister and maku keep telling us how nigeria's economic indices is only comparable to those of Germany and China, yet when it comes to fulfilling their obligations, they tell us they've got no money!!!
Who do they think they are fooling??

Strike continues. This govt must be forced to act responsibly for once!

Why does this Maku always talk like the government is doing the people a favour , the tone of his comments just show lethargy on the part of the government, if they had their way they wont even be bothered that ASUU is on strike.
On the other hand, is it not ludicrous to think that the FG signed an agreement without knowing the cost implications & they're not even ashamed to admit it. The clown that signed this agreement unfortunately is the president today and he has been carrying on with government business like this issue is not important, he's a even on his way to Israel at the moment.
SOLUTION : Do not vote for Gej in 2015

On another note, let me ask; how many agreements have the government signed without knowing the cost implication

Matter of fact, this statement by Maku sums up and confirms what Nigerians have always said: this government is clueless!!! The negotiations was headed by the clueless one back then!!! It all makes perfect sense!

simpleseyi:

Jonathan intentionally signed the agreement then in order to bring down Yar'Adua's government. The evil that men do lives with them.

lessson #1

never trust a man who once had no shoes