Clement Idoko, Abuja - 21.07.2009

"THE Federal Government, on Monday, refuted claim by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) that it had planned to introduce N180,000 tuition fees for each student per session in the federal universities in the country.
Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, reacting to the development in Abuja that culminated into the indefinite strike by the union, on Monday, said it was an attempt to blackmail the government.
Egwu, however, appealed to the striking university lecturers to return to class in the interest of the Nigerian children, assuring that the government was doing all it could within the limit of its resources to resolve all the issues amicably.
SSANU, President, Comrade Promise Adewusi, rising from the union’s National Executive Council Meeting, told journalists, on Sunday, that the Federal Government was planning to introduce outrageous N180,000 tuition fees per session in federal universities, which was rejected by the union.
Dr. Egwu, at the news conference in Abuja, said: “I wish to assure you and all Nigerians that this was not an issue during the re-negotiations referred to by SSANU.
“For the sake of emphasis, government has never contemplated nor has it introduced tuition fees in federal tertiary institutions. I, therefore, consider this a deliberate attempt on the part of SSANU to blackmail the government,” he stated.
The minister, who also ruled outthe possibility of granting the union’s demand for 60-year retirement age, clarified that retirement age as applicable to all public servants, non-academic staff inclusive remained 60 years."

http://www.tribune.com.ng/21072009/news/news6.html

Now who is blackmailing who? FG > SSANU or SSANU > FG?!?!?