UNIJOS VC Appeals to ASUU to Suspend its Strike

UNIJOS VC Appeals to ASUU to Suspend its Strike:

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. (NAN)