Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku
A
former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin, Prof. Grace
Alele-Williams, has called for the speedy resolution of the strike
embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The strike, which started on July 1, has paralysed academic activities in public universities across the country.
Alele-Williams, who is the first female
vice-chancellor in Nigeria, frowned on a statement credited to the
Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, that the Federal Government did
not know the cost implication of the agreement it entered into with the
university teachers in 2009.
She spoke during the public presentation
of two books written by an 88-year-old retired Lagos State Deputy Chief
Inspector of Education, Mrs. Rhoda Johnson-Smith, in Lagos, on Thursday.
The books are titled, ‘Destined to be different’ and ‘Realities of
life.’
Alele-Williams, while delivering the
chairperson’s opening remarks, noted that it was high time government
started taking the funding of education seriously for the development of
the country.
She noted that government should
encourage university teachers to give their best in the classrooms by
giving them what they deserved and not what it felt they deserved.
She said, “As I sit here, some people
have been asking me what my opinion is on the current ASUU strike. It is
shameful that somebody will make promises and later come back to say
they don’t understand what those promises are.
“Here in Nigeria, our government gives
you what they think you deserve and not what you deserve, whereas some
people are being overpaid. You can create more teachers but you cannot
build more schools without producing more teachers.”
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