Asuu, on Monday, commenced an indefinite strike to press home the implement of 2009 agreement with the government and other demands.Federal Government said it was not financially buoyant to meet the demands of the Academy Staff Union of Universities (Asuu).

The government blamed the administration of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, for making what it said was bogus promises to the union during a period of oil boom. Addressing reporters at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Education, Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, explained that the crash in the prices of oil globally had affected the economic fortunes of Nigeria.

According to him, this had dire consequences on all sectors of the economy, including education.

The minister said: “I must say that this is difficult to reconcile with all the efforts and positive achievements we have been able to make.

“Let me begin by saying that the Issues necessitating this strike dates back to 2009 when the then government of late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua signed an agreement with the Asuu on funding of the federal universities in the country.

“The agreement provided for funding of Universities to the tune of N1.3trillion over a period of six years. It is instructive to know that Nigeria was experiencing the oil boom at that time. It was therefore expected that government will be able to meet the terms of agreement.

“However, international oil prices crashed in subsequent years thereby throwing the country into economic hardship, at the inception of this administration the country’s economic fortunes worsened, nose diving into recession, with dire consequences on all sectors of the economy, including education.

“We exited recession not too long ago, and we are just beginning to recover from the consequences of low oil prices, which are happily beginning to pick up.

“If this trend continues, definitely, the education sector will also improve, in other words, the well-being of the education sector and any other sector of the country’s economy is a function of the international oil prices, this is the stack reality for now which all of us must acknowledge and accept.”

The minister appealed to both parents, Asuu and students to exercise restraint in their response to the education sector.

He said the union should be mindful of the fact that other sector of the economy were competing with similar financial needs.

Adamu said: “Against this background I want to appeal to all Nigerian parents, students and in particular women and men of Asuu to continue to exercise restraint in terms of their response to the plight of the education sector.

“We must also be mindful that there are other sectors with similar competing needs, if our universities produce graduates, such graduates must work in other sectors of the economy which must also be supported by government.”

Asuu’s hinged its current strike on delays in implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it agreed with the government in 2017.