in the school calendar, assuring on the speedy resolution to end the
ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The
government said it has engaged the lecturers in 'serious
negotiations'.
It is also worried about the fall-out of the lingering strike and its
effect on the students, hence, the urgency to end the industrial
action as quickly as possible.
Minister of Information Labaran Maku stated the government's resolve
atthe end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by
President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja yesterday, urging parents and the
affected students to bear with government and show more understanding
as efforts are being made to resolve the issues very soon.
Maku said the Federal Government had indeed been worried since the
onset of the strike, particularly as there are always social costs
incurredby disruption of academic calendar.
"The Federal Government has been far more worried than you think,
concerning the strike in tertiary institutions, because of the
disruption ofthe school calendar and so, government is concerned and
very worried and since the onset of the strike, government has been
negotiating with ASUU through the Ministries of Labour and
Productivity and Education.
"As at today, we know that negotiations are going on and it is our
expectation that this strike will not get more protracted and that an
understanding will be reached soon enough to enable our students
returnto school. Government is very worried and concerned every time
the school calendar is disrupted, it has its cost to the nation,
particularly the idle time our children spend at home can lead to a
lot of social difficulties.
"We don't want school calendars to be disrupted and a lot of series of
discussions have been going on and we believe we should record some
progress soon enough for these schools to re-open and the Ministers of
Labour and Education will be giving briefings on the progress of these
negotiations and I know that it has never ceased.
"So, we are appealing to our people, particularly parents and children
of this nation, to bear with us, to show more understanding and we
pray that this type of strike will not re-occur, because the public
school system suffers a lot of damage with the perennial strikes. The
universities have been relatively stable since the advent of this
administration. The strikes that we inherited, we have tried to
resolve them, and if you notice in the last two years, there has not
been a lot of strikes until this unfortunate one and I believe we will
overcome it and inthe end, both parties will appreciate the need to
keep the school calendar stable for the progress of our country. So,
government is working hard to ensure we reach an agreement to resolve
this problem, sothat our schools can re-open".
Meanwhile, FEC has approved a contract of N2.99 billion for the
rehabilitation/construction of the Calabar-Ugep section of the
Katsina-Ala/Ogoja/Ugep/Calabar Road.
The earlier section of the road which is already 80 per cent complete,
was awarded for N4.6 billion, thus bringing the total contract sum for
the entire road to N7.5 billion
Minister of State for Works, Bashir Yuguda, explained that the
contractor, Piccolo Brunelli, which handled the first phase, was asked
tocontinue with the extension since it was already on site and had
done a very good job.
Yuguda recalled that "the first phase of the project aimed at
addressingthe heavily distressed sections of the road while other
sections not captured in the original contract scope of works would be
addressed when funds became available.
"This is to ensure that government and the public get the full
benefits ofthe investment made on the roads in terms of improvement of
the level ofservice," he siad.
The council also considered a memo to provide a template for economic
analysis of projects before they are included in the budget for
appropriation. According to Maku, this template will also include
environmental assessment and will ensure that henceforth, projects
mustfollow the masterplan of the Federal Government's Transformation
Agenda.
Although there is existing assessment, FEC intends the new template
toconstitute a scientific and thorough analysis of projects, and
decided to continue further deliberations on the memo at subsequent
meetings of the council.
A FEC committee was also set up to further study the synergy among
several factors that come into play in the Public-Private-Partnership
involved in power/electricity projects in the country.
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