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By Amos Odhe, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has again assured the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of his commitment towards an improved welfare and educational standards across the state.
Governor Diri made the commitment in Yenagoa, the state capital on Tuesday during a protest organized by the state chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), as part of a nationwide protest held by the organized labour in solidarity with ASUU over its protracted strike.
Our correspondent reports that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike for no fewer than five months demanding that the Federal Government honours old agreements earlier entered with it which the union stated were aimed at improving the nation’s education sector.
Addressing the protesters, Governor Diri restated that no nation can develop without a virile educational system, adding that it was based on this premise that his government held series of meetings and consultations with the academic staff unions of the state owned higher institutions with a view to finding solutions to the problems facing the state’s universities and sister higher institutions of learning.
“No nation can develop without improving the educational standards of its institutions of learning. I’m in solidarity with the NLC and ASUU.No nation or state can prosper without improvements in its educational system.
“Many of us in leadership positions have past through this system and it was not so during our time, if not we would not have been where we are.
“Due to our resolve to improve the standards of education in our state owned higher institutions, we met with the ASUU chapters of our state owned universities and we’ve resolved to continue the payment of their salaries even though they’re on strike. And we’ve been paying since after our meeting.
“We’ve also as government increased the subventions to the Bayelsa state owned higher institutions for better performance. We as leaders were once students and we would not cut the ladder after climbing so that others can climb it too. It’s worrisome that the nation’s ivory towers are still going through all this. We thought we’ve gone past this?”, Diri added.
Meanwhile in an address to the government, the state NLC chairman, Comrade, John Ndiomu, had lauded Governor Diri for his labour friendly policies and programmes.
Ndiomu noted that the nation’s education sector can not continue going through comatose situation, insisting that the protest was amongst a series of activities the NLC tend to use in bringing an end to the protracted ASUU strike and pummel on the need to improve the nation’s educational sector.
Also speaking, the chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the state owned Niger Delta university (NDU), Professor Tonbara Kingdom, and his counterpart from University of Africa, Toru Orua said the protest was not just about ASUU alone, but for all Nigerians and lovers of education, just as they averred that with an improved educational standards the nation would be better-off.
They also advocate for a law that will prohibit public office holders from sending their children to foreign universities, adding that because their children are not schooling in the country, they will remain lackadaisical about the standards and conditions of the nations ivory towers.
