The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, on Wednesday challenged the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to its disagreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) through dialogue.
Abubakar made the call during the official commissioning of the Bola Babalakin Guest House built by Babalakin Family and donated to Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State.
He urged the federal government to find a definite solution to the dispute with the union in the interest of the students.
The varsity lecturers, who suspended their eight-month strike on October 14, 2022 are still angry with the federal government over the payment of half-salary for last month.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said in a statement on Wednesday that the government would not withdraw its “no work no pay” policy because of pressure from ASUU.
The Sultan said: “We just came out of an unfortunate ASUU crisis. I believe we have come out of the eight months that our children were at home. Very sad and frustrating but these are things that we could have avoided by continuously talking because it is not today that ASUU started having problems with the government and they will never stop having a problem with the government.
“The best thing is that anytime there is a problem, you sit down and discuss it to find a way out. If you have a problem with your wife, you divorce her and marry another one. You have a problem with the new one you divorce again, then you become a divorcee champion.
“So when you have a problem with anyone, what you should do is to sit down and dialogue in an honest way and once you have agreed on any terms please try to implement your agreement.
“But, if you think you can not, come back to the table again and discuss more. Then you have other alternatives to solve the problem but not embarking on a strike that will affect the children. I know how our children have been affected psychologically and emotionally by the eight months strike, I think that is not good for us.
“I have been pleading with ASUU, I have been part of the negotiation team with ASUU at the federal government level and I know what we have discussed. There are things that we could have done more to be honest with one another in ensuring that our children whom we all care for go to school and graduate.”
