A former minister of Education and ex-Board of Trustees member of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Prof Tunde Adeniran, on Tuesday called on the federal government to be transparent and sincere in its approach to solving the incessant strike actions by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other staff unions in tertiary institutions country.
He also warned the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against making empty threats but focus on ensuring good governance in the sub-region.
He spoke in Abuja during a public presentation of two books he authored entitled: “Some Thoughts on Education in Nigeria” and “Policy Making and International Security”.
Adeniran who was also former Ambassador of Nigeria to Germany, noted no problem could not be solved if the parties involved in the negotiation process were sincere, transparent and committed.
On the best approach to end the incessant ASUU strikes, Adeniran observed that education must be given the right attention, adding that both the goverment and lecturers must see themselves as Nigerians and patriots first during negotiations.
He said: “The ASUU strike occupies a whole chapter in my book which goes into the genesis and what it will take to resolve the incessant and I believe (it is resolvable. There is no problem that cannot be solved, if we are sincere, transparent and committed.
“I believe very much that once we regard education, give it as much attention as possible, support it adequately, and give education the right orientation in this country, we will be able to solve so many problems, even the security problems
“I believe that we are going to solve this question of kidnapping, and banditry and some other things when we generally resolved and resort to build a genuine and true nation, whereby we cater for the needs of everybody.
“How do we really solve these strikes? I believe that so many agreements have been reached with the government on quite a number of issues. There is need to sit down and revisit them. When the two parties are transparent and they are sincere, they will be able to solve the problems.
“There are certain agreements that have been reached even as of today, which has become difficult to implement. Let all these issues be discussed. One thing is we usually operate from adversarial position and comments from time to time.
“During negotiations, parties looks at one another, not as the same citizens and nations committed to the same goals but as opponents and enemies which is wrong. We should all put the interests of the country first”.
Speaking on the Nigerien crisis and political climate across Africa, Adeniran warned the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against making empty threats.
He was reacting to the spate of coup d’etat spreading across the continent and ECOWAS threat to use military intervention in restoring democracy in Niger.
Noting that the ECOWAS leaders must be proactive by thinking ahead, he also stressed the need for the regional leaders to also be realistic.
The diplomat said: “Well, my advice to ECOWAS is that before situations arise, they should be proactive by thinking ahead and when they are thinking ahead, they should also be realistic. It doesn’t pay to make threats that are not credible. If you cannot fulfill, you do not make threats.
“One other thing which is important here is that ECOWAS should pay a lot of attention to good governance. They are shy. They are not ready to tell the various member countries the truth about what is going on.
“When there are certain shortcomings, where we do not have enough commitment to the welfare of the people, they should be bold and courageous enough to let others know because it is of collective interest to have stability, security and above all, to have development that will improve quality of life of citizens.
“Then, at the national level, my advice would be each of them should go back to the drawing board and have dialogue with their various constituents then come up with a constitution that will be able to drive development and improve the quality of life of citizens which will also enable them too to govern effectively. By this, they won’t turn themselves to little emperors. What this means is that there is need for our leaders to revisit their approaches to governance.
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