ASUU strike will be over soon, says Okojie

PROF. Julius Okojie, Executive Secretary of the National
Universities Commission (NUC) says he is confident that the
protracted strike by the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) will soon be called off.
Okojie,according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),who
spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at a media parley with
journalists, said the commission was doing everything
within its powers to ensure a speedy resolution of the
issues raised by ASUU so that students could return school.
``We are part of the system and we understand the issues,
we are meeting with members of the union all the time and
the issues are being tackled.
``So, we are optimistic the strike will soon be called off and
our children can go back to school in the shortest possible
time.’’
He also reacted to the call by ASUU for NUC to be scrapped,
saying ``the call is not in good faith as the commission has
not gone to sleep over its duties''.
Also speaking on the recurrent disagreements between the
commission and some professional bodies over
accreditation and running of certain courses by some
universities, Okojie acknowledged that there were issues
that needed to be resolved between both parties.
``There is no country in the world where regulatory bodies
and professional bodies go to regulate at the same time.
``So, it is true we are having problems with professional
bodies in carrying out our mandate, but the issues too will
soon be resolved and we can move on.
The executive secretary, who said that the commission had
closed many faculties not fit to run courses in certain
universities, admitted that; ``it is not easy to be a
regulator’’.
According to him, the commission was ``silently regulating
the system’’ having to also pay professional fees and
encourage professors to do accreditation.