STRIKE ACTION: Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor-Kalu Calls On The Federal Government To Re-Open Talks With ASUU.

Orji Kalu.

As the strike embarked upon by the Academic State Union of Universities, ASUU lingers, the Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate and senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, Senator Orji Kalu, has urged the Federal Government to re-open talks and negotiations with the ASUU to find a lasting solution to the impasse and to allow children of Nigerian parents to return to school.

This was contained in a statement by the Senator on Thursday in Abuja, as he condemned what he called the disruption of academic activities as a result of strikes by the university lecturers which stated on the 14^th of February, 2022, urging the federal government to endeavour to implement the signed agreements with the lecturers in the interest of students, their parents, the education sector and the country at large.

Senator Orji Kalu described as worrisome the continued brain-drain in the country, which according to him, has contributed to poor quality of Nigerian graduates, as the “Incessant strikes disrupt the academic calendar, encourage brain drain and contribute significantly to the poor quality of graduates in the Country, with far-reaching implications on national development.

He says, “The federal government should urgently take all necessary measures to open a realistic negotiation with ASUU to stop the strike and implement the signed agreements in the interest of our students, their parents, the education sector and the country and stop playing with the future of our youths”.

You would recall that the ASUU President, Emmanuel Osedeke, said that the union took the ‘difficult decision’ after exhausting all avenues available to amicably settle the matter with the federal government and had to call for the strike to see if that would move the government.