The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) claims the federal government should have used the recovered $23 million Abacha money to meet its demands.
Emmanuel Osodeke, president of ASUU, said this on Tuesday in an interview on Channels Television.
Clariform recalls that since February 2022, ASUU has been on strike to protest the federal government’s failure to meet its demands.
We earlier reported that the federal government and the US came to an agreement last Tuesday to return a fresh batch of money that former Nigerian leader Sani Abacha had embezzled.
The recovered money, known as “Abacha-5,” according to Abubakar Malami, the Nigerian Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, has been set aside for the completion of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and the Abuja-Kano road respectively.
Following the news, there has been much discussion on whether the federal government is making the appropriate choice in light of the ongoing ASUU strike regarding the loot that has been seized.
Osodeke offered his opinion on the situation, claiming that if the federal government valued education, it would have channeled the money it had recovered to the country’s education sector.
NOTABLE QUOTE
The ASUU president while speaking on Channels TV queried, “Definitely. Let’s use a typical man as an example, you have a house and your child is sick seriously and you were paid money that you were not expecting. Where will you put the money?”
“That child should be the first thing you will treat. Is it not? Before you will start thinking about how you are going to buy clothes.”
“Your universities are shut for six months. You now have access to a fund you were not expecting, If you really love education, where should you put the money? In that particular place. They said they don’t have money. We need to love this country.”
Osodeke responded to claims that ASUU had terminated talks with the federal government by saying, “In Nigeria, we have so much media, social media, and what have you. They simply publish issues to gain notoriety. We never stated that. As a union, we are available for discussions and invitations.”
