By Joan Nwagwu

Dr Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, has appealed to labour unions in the sector to prioritise education over strike for the good and future of the Nigerian students.

Alausa said this at the 359th Quadrennial National Delegates Conference of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) on Wednesday in Abuja.

The theme of the conference was, “Respecting Collective Bargaining Agreements and Industrial Peace in a Democracy”.

He said that industrial action should not be the first line option in seeking government”s attention to the unions’ demands.

“I know you as an association, together with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non Academic Staff of Universities(NASU),. collectively, your psyche has been affected.

“The government has gone into agreement with you, and most of the time, the government has not fulfilled their own part of the agreement.

“But let me promise you this, President Bola Tinubu is a democrat, he will work to meet his obligation and agreement that he enters with you.

” Let us prioritise the future of our children and work together to keep them in school,” he said.

Alausa also said that the government was constrained by certain financial limitations like heavy expenditures by the previous administration on subsidies and artificially low exchange rates.

He said that these policies had drained the country’s resources and benefitted the wealthy at the expense of crucial sectors like education.

“Subsidies cost Nigeria nearly one billion dollars daily, while artificially maintaining the exchange rate added another 500 million dollars monthly.

“These unsustainable practices took resources away from critical sectors,”he said.

He urged the labour unions to give the government the benefit of the doubt and engage in collective bargaining with mutual respect.

“We have assembled a committee led by respected Nigerians, including Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, former Head of Service, to negotiate with unions,” he said.

Also, Mr Ayuba Wabba, Former President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said that labour unions’ were frustrated by repeated breaches of agreements with the federal government.

“Failure to honour collective bargaining agreements has been a major source of strikes in Nigeria,” he said.

Wabba called for establishment of a Labour Council, similar to South Africa’s model, that would facilitate quarterly meetings between government and union representatives.

He added that this would help in addressing the emerging issues proactively and fostering trust.

Mr Mohammed Ibrahim, National President of SSANU, called for a shift in perceptions around unions.

Ibrahim said that SSANU and other unions were often mischaracterised as “strike-happy” and called for a new narrative that promotes industrial peace.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman