The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has rejected the proposed plan by the Federal Government to hike tuition fees in Nigerian universities.
Dr Lazarus Maigoro, Chairman of the University of Jos chapter of the union, made this known on Tuesday in Jos, during the nationwide peaceful protest organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed its preparedness to commence a three-day warning strike from Thursday, which would be immediately after their 2-day nationwide protest that begins today.
But the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has advised business owners not to shut down their operations in response to the workers’ solidarity protest.
It was gathered that NLC and its affiliates embarked on a nationwide protest in solidarity with the ASUU and other affiliate unions, over the unresolved industrial dispute between the Federal Government and the lecturers.
In Lagos, the protest match was peaceful with some notable activists like Femi Falana making appearance.
Maigoro, who alleged that the government was planning to hike tuition to N750, 000 per student, re-iterated that the ongoing strike was aimed at pushing for their demands, as well as making government address the contending issues.
He insisted that if tuition fee was increased, the children of the common man would invariably be denied access to university education.
“Government is planning to increase the tuition fee in public universities to N750,000 and this is not acceptable to us in ASUU.
“We will not accept it today, tomorrow or forever; if that happens the children of the poor and common people can not go to university.
“So, this strike is not about us, but about the future of education in Nigeria, and this is why we are insisting that government must fund education because it is its responsibility to do so,” he said.
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Maigoro, however, appealed to the Federal Government to implement the agreement it entered with the union in 2009, in the interest of Nigeria’s future generation and the development of the university system.
He particularly advised the government to implement the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), as a payment platform for all universities in the country.
