As members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) resume today after their eight-month-long industrial action over the state of educational facilities in the country, interim government campaigner and former presidential candidate, Rev Chris Okotie, has urged the federal government to seek permanent solution to the issue.
“Labour unrest will persist like other perennial crises in the polity unless Aboriginal Democracy is put in place,” he warned.
The Okotie Media Office in a statement by his media adviser, Ladi Ayodeji, said although he was pleased that the ASUU strike has ended, he does not foresee an end to the frequent labour disputes unless professional associations are given legislative responsibilities as contained in his interim government proposition.
According to Okotie, “the professional bodies should, by virtue of their competence, make laws that govern their sphere of influence, meaning ASUU should make laws for education while, the medical association does same for the health sector and so on, to engender economic stability.
“The challenge we have now is that a group of politicians congregate as a legislature to be making laws in specialised areas they know little about. That’s the truth behind labour disputes in the country.”
The cleric predicted that after what looked like a brief period of peace in the educational sector, ASUU may commence another cycle of strikes, like doctors, and other affiliates of the NLC.