Yahaya Bello blames govt for mishandling ASUU grievances

The Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, has waded into the ongoing cold war between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government, which has resulted in the grounding of tertiary institutions since February 14.

Bello made his stance known on Friday, during a Channels TV programme ‘Sunrise Daily’, monitored by The Harmattan News.

Earlier, Adamu Adamu, minister of education, said students affected by the industrial action of ASUU should sue the union.

At a briefing held at the presidential villa on Thursday, the minister was asked if the federal government had plans to compensate students affected by the industrial action.

Responding, Adamu said it is the duty of ASUU to compensate the students, not the federal government.

In his opinion when asked about the situation on Friday, Yahaya Bello frowned on the choice of words employed by the representatives of the Federal Government.

According to him, the representatives had mishandled the situation which was at variance with the importance placed on education by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The governor said, “President Buhari, in a series of meetings with the governors, has always stressed the importance of education. Those who he trusted to handle the ASUU issue have not done justice to it. And I expect the FG to be decisive since the Representatives are being dismissive of the issues therein.

“The FG should be clear regarding how ASUU is going overboard in order for all stakeholders to understand. We should not be comfortable keeping restive youths at home for six months and this has a direct bearing on the current insecurity in the country.”

Bello further urged the ASUU leadership to display good faith due to the time wasted, while reiterating productive collaboration amongst stakeholders to redress the situation.

“Also, the ASUU leadership should show good faith towards resolving this issue. This is because there must be a human face in all our agitations; we cannot have students at home for six months while continuing to talk tough.

“Administrations will come and go because no one Government can solve all the challenges in the country. There is a need for collaboration amongst all the stakeholders,” Bello noted.