Favour THE pan-Northern socio-political organisation, Arewa Consultative Forum, has said it is willing to mediate in the impasse between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government to end the protracted strike.
The Northern body said the idea was to end the strike following the uncompromising stance of university lecturers and the government.
The ACF through its Secretary-General, Malam Aliyu, in a statement in Kaduna on Thursday, said its intention was to save the state of the nation’s universities from imminent collapse.
The forum called on the government and the university lecturers to sheathe their swords and reconsider their stance for public universities to resume; noting the strikes over the decades had set the nation’s universities behind.
The statement titled, ‘ASUU strike: ACF willing to host mediation,’ read in part, “The ACF offers, like any neutral socio-political organisation in the country, to mediate on the impasse between ASUU and the Federal Government.
“The ACF thought it wise to mediate, considering the uncompromising stands of the two parties as to the issues at stake.
“It is with great sense of concern that the forum finds it necessary to speak up in the stand-off between the negotiation teams, in a situation causing chains of academic strikes in the country.
“The frequency of the strike over the last three decades has set the tertiary education sector years behind, affecting the quality of products. The current impasse has lasted too long, a sign that a different approach is needed to resolve this disagreement of ideas.
“The nation is held to ransom as a result of this deadlock and the situation must stop immediately.
“The ACF calls on the FG and ASUU to, as a matter of urgency, reconsider further dialogues on alternative terms to the former strategies.
“We, again, call on both parties to reconsider changing their approaches, as it is imperative to note here that:-
“Academic strikes are too many and seem to be outdated and of little effect. Therefore, alternative measures to strike actions must be thought of and the present situation must be reversed, immediately.
“Realistic response should be made to all ASUU requests.
“It is the parents, students, lecturers and the society, in general, that bear the brunt of these strikes actions more, and that such scenarios must be avoided to, responsively, deliver services to the nation.
“Every government, as well as stakeholders actions, should be seen to be responsive all through. It is only reasonable to act immediately, so as to address all issues without making the rest of the public suffer any further.
“ACF is offering to host the mediation.”
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