By Vincent Ujumadu

AWKA—GOVERNOR Peter Obi of Anambra State, insisted, weekend, that the agreement  between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has nothing to do with the state and private universities, even as he said that the state government was taking necessary measures to resolve issues with the striking lecturers of the state university.

Obi, who spoke at the reorientation and empowerment programme organised for youths of Anambra North senatorial zone by the state government in collaboration with Anambra Rebirth and Institute for National Transformation  in Onitsha, expressed worry that ASUU had insisted on continuing with the strike, even after the state government had offered to increase the salary of  lecturers by 50 percent

The Governor said that as a responsible government, his administration would not promise what it could not implement with the available resources.  He said that while none of the state universities in the entire South West and South South has implemented the new salary structure, including those owned by Lagos and Rivers States with their high revenue profile and high school fees, the lecturers in the South East have vowed not to go back to school unless the Federal Government/ASUU agreement was implemented fully.

He told the people that his administration was determined to build a new state with wider opportunities for all and urged the youth to be part of the new order.

He announced that students of the state origin would be sponsored abroad to study on state government scholarship, while employment opportunities would be created as from next year.

The Secretary of Anambra Rebirth, Dr. Okey Ikechukwu, urged the youth to take the programme serious.

By Chidi Nkwopara

,….As clerics appeal to ASUU,S-East govs to reopen varsities

OWERRI—The  Catholic Bishops of Onitsha and Owerri Ecclesiastical Provinces, have appealed to the South East governments and the leadership of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to “reopen the state universities and secure the future of our children.”

The Bishops in a communique at the end of their meeting in Owerri, Imo State, by Archbishops Valerian  Okeke and Anthony  Obinna of Onitsha and Owerri Ecclesiastical Provinces respectively, said “while commending genuine efforts by the state governments and universities’ unions to reach a peaceful settlement, we plead with both sides to call off the protracted strike immediately.”

The Bishops said they had followed with a deep sense of concern and sadness, the lingering industrial action in all the sate universities since July 22, 2010, stressing that the strike impinges very negatively on the future of thousands of students,  majority of who are youths from the South East.

“We have observed the terrible pain the state of affairs constitutes to parents and guardians, who have been burdened by anxiety for their wards, whose future is being toyed with, and who have been left for more than three months to while away precious time at home, with the attendant temptation of drifting  criminal engagements,” the clerics said.