ASUU strike: TUC gives FG marching order to borrow to end crisis

Trade Union Congress (TUC) yesterday tasked Federal Government to end the seven months old lingering strike in the nation’s universities, by borrowing if need be to meet the demand of the embattled members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The TUC President, Festus Osifo at a media parley with the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) yesterday in Lagos noted that government should use out of the money earmarked for infrastructure to fund education.
According to him, the federal government is proposing borrowing N10 -N11 trillion to finance the nation’s budget midterm, stating that government should take out of it to fund the demand of ASUU.
“We have been borrowing money to solve our infrastructures problem, no money that we borrow that can be compared to human capital development.
“If we don’t fix our education, it means we are joking. Human resources is key. Today lots of Nigerians are going out in droves, that is brain drain. Our government must sit down with ASUU to resolve the crisis, if it entails borrowing let them do it,” he said.
Osifo stated that the National Assembly said the 2023 budget will be in deficit and they are proposing N19trillion and the fund they will generate will not be half of the money that will be borrowed. 
He added, “It is not our advocacy, the government had already made a plan. 
Government should take part of the money to solve the problem of ASUU. 
“If the money that wants to be borrowed is to complete the second Nigeria bridge or railway line, the question is who wants to use them? Those sectors are not more important than education. 
” We must get our priority right and government needs to put on its thinking cap. In a civilized society, the government is made up of serious-minded people. The common man on the street is more creative than the people elected to public office.”
He maintained that the easiest way for Nigeria to move out of the present economic logjam is to fund education, warning that failure to do that will be devastating.
He lamented that the ASUU strike has kept the students home for almost seven months long enough to end a session in the university with no solution on sight.
Osifo, who is also the President, of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) lamented the brain drain of the country, saying the government that fails to fix education is a joker. 
“We don’t know when the strike will be called off, all we are hearing is blame game. The President gets the obligation to resolve this issue”, he added. 
He urged the government to get their priority right by funding education. 
Recalled that Federal universities lecturers have been on strike for  200 days and the union is yet to come up with an agreement with the government.