Reconsider your stand, Abdusalami;
Babangida tell ASUU/FG
on october 18, 2013 at 7:10 pm in news
Minna- Two former Military Head of State,
General Abdulsami Abubakar and General
Ibrahim Babangida has called on the Academic
Staff Union Of Universities and the Federal
government to reconsider their stand on the
ongoing strike in order to avert total collapse of
education in the country
The duo spoke with journalists shortly after
paying sallah visit to the state governor, Dr.
Muazu Babangida Aliyu at his residence in
Minna on Friday.
General Abubakar who spoke extensively on
other nagging national issues including
security, oil theft among others also called on
all other unions already on strike or warming
up to enter into dialogue with the relevant
authorities to avoid the collapse of the nation’s
economy.
General Abubakar said, “I believe that strike is
a normal issue but i think we are overdoing it
in this country because in other developed
countries, strike is done within 24 hours aimed
at drawing attention to their plight. Nigerians
are already feeling the pinch of these strike
actions and so government and these strikers
should look at how these issues can be
resolved immediately.”
The former Head of State said government
should not have allowed the strike to linger on
for so long and therefore called on it to look
into their demands and address them
accordingly regardless of its dwindling
resources.
According to him, “Government should look
into these various issues and demands and
address them accordingly regardless of the
dwindling resources of the country and
similarly, the strikers should also look at the
coffers of government and try to be reasonable
in their demands.”
He noted that the various unions had made
their points and therefore urged them to go
back to work pointing out that if the strike
continues, they might eventually lose the
sympathy of the people.
General Babangida who also spoke in the
same vein also called on the striking unions to
sheath their swords in the interest of parents,
students and other affected Nigerians.
Speaking on security, General Abubakar said it
is the business of all Nigerians and should not
be left in the hands of government and
security agents alone and therefore called on
the public to always pass on relevant
informationregarding security to the authorities.
Just as he also called on the security agencies
to always protect sources of their information in
order to give more room for more information.
General Abubakar those involved in the
constant oil theft as unpatrotic and urged them
to abandon the business in the interest of the
economy of the nation.
“I look at the ongoing development as very sad
and look at the people as very unpatrotic. To
them, they think they are getting their share of
the national cake by stealing whereas they are
not. I want them to have a rethink and search
their conscience and turn a new leaf so that
we can have a peaceful and developing
country”
He however allayed the fears of the ongoing
problems facing the country saying, “God has
joined us together and whether you break
Nigeria into pieces, we will still remain joined
by our umbilical cord because our umbilical
cord is still there and we will continue to live
together either as neighbours or as
communities.”