Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, the Vice-Chancellor of the University
of Jos, on Tuesday appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
to suspend its strike in the interest of the nation.
Mafuyai, said this, while exchanging views with newsmen in
Jos.
He said that the university lecturers should consider the
plight of their students by calling off their long-drawn-out strike.
“The fact of the matter is that the Federal Government has
done well by agreeing to set aside billions of naira yearly for the
rehabilitation and development of the nation’s universities.
“The ASUU officials and members should at least look at what
the government has offered and call off the strike,” he said.
Mafuyai said that the government had agreed to be releasing
N30 billion yearly for the rehabilitation and the maintenance of the nations
universities.
He added that the government had also inaugurated the Needs’
Assessment Committee of the Nigerian Universities, with the view to solving the
problems facing the universities.
“President Goodluck Jonathan has a listening ear; that is
why the government has been negotiating, with a view to resolving the impasse
between it and the union,” he said.
Mafuyai appealed to ASUU to reconsider its “hard stance’’.
He said that the ASUU members, after receiving what was
offered to them, could still continue negotiations with the government.
The vice chancellor, however, said that he had a cordial
relationship with the local branch of ASUU in his university.
He said that the university authorities were ready to
provide a favourable working environment for the lecturers to operate without
any fear of harassment.
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