Abuja – The  Political Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, has urged striking university lecturers to return to their classrooms in the interest of the students.

Gulak made the appeal in Abuja on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The adviser said that the government was concerned with what would happen to the students if they must stay idle for the duration of the industrial action.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), commenced an indefinite strike on Monday due to  Federal Government’s inability to honour the agreement reached with the union in 2009.

The agreement was on adequate funding for the universities and the implementation of the 70-year retirement age for university professors.

He urged the lecturers to return to the negotiation table to discuss on how to resolve the impasse so as to save the future of the undergraduates.

‘’I will really plead with ASUU to consider the children because their primary interest is the education of the children.

‘’Let there be dialogue because the students are our children and we must make sacrifices, everybody must make sacrifices for them whether you are a member of ASUU or not, ’’ he said.

He expressed regret that industrial actions at the nation’s ivory towers was causing undue elongation of years of study for  students.

Gulak, however, pointed out that the lecturers must make a distinction between  politics and national interest, noting that national interest should supercede political considerations.

‘’Our national interest is to see our children properly educated because without proper education there’s nothing this country can achieve in the near future,’’ he said.

He said that since education was an integral part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda, he had directed the concerned ministries (Education and Labour) to discuss with the lecturers with a view to settling the industrial dispute. (NAN)