ASUU rejects N600b offer. Says strike continues Varsity teachers remained adam

Varsity teachers remained adamant last night, saying their strike would go on, despite the government’s shifting of its position. The strike has been on for four months. More cash has been pledged for projects on the campuses. Besides, the earned allowances due to the teachers have been increased from the initial N30 billion offer, which the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) rejected. The teachers are insisting on the 2009 agreement, which they say President Goodluck Jonathan was part of. Besides, they say, they do not trust the government. ASUU last night was unimpressed with the new offer. National Treasurer Dr. Ademola Aremu said the offer failed to meet the teachers’ expectations. He said the offer falls short of the agreement signed with ASUU by the government. Aremu insisted that ASUU would not end the strike until the 2009 agreement is fully implemented by injecting N500 billion into the universities yearly to shore up the system’s quality. Aremu, who spoke to our correspondent on the telephone, said any offer below what is contained in the signed agreement, would amount to unilateral repudiation of an agreement the government willingly signed in 2009. According to the unionist, ASUU is not making any new demand, but a mere implementation of an agreement. He pointed out that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both parties in 2009 stated that the government would commit N1.5 trillion to the system in three years. He said: “ Even if the Federal Government made that promise, it would be a unilateral repudiation of the 2009 agreement. By now, the government should have injected N500 billion. That amounts to N100 billion in 2012 and N400 billion in the current year. “As a matter of fact, any new commitment from the Federal Government is belated. Implementation of the agreement ought to have started before this year. I don’t think there is any way we can trust this government, going by its past behaviour on this issue. “The mandate from our principal as at the last time we met was that we won’t end the strike until the agreement is fully implemented. “We do not need promises again. What we need now is actual implementation.What if they do not release the funds again after making the promise? “It was this same Mr President that mid- wifed the agreement in 2009 when he was the Vice President. The MoU was in his custody. He studied the agreement well before asking then President Umaru Yar’Adua to sign it. We can’t trust this government