Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, has pleaded to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to allow students resume academic activities, saying any sacrifice made to achieve that should not be seen to be misplaced.
Uzodimma made the appeal on Wednesday when he received the members of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), who paid a working at the Government House in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
According to a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the Governor, Oguwike Nwachuku, Governor Uzodimma who appealed specifically to the FUTO branch of ASUU to “allow students studying in the university to go back to school” urged all parties in the ASUU/FG saga to “sheathe their sword and allow the sleeping dog lie”.
He added: “Education is the key ingredient for national development, so it is the responsibility of leaders in the country to resolve issues and controversies that tend to impede the academic progress of her youths.
“What the leaders of Nigeria owe our future generation is to ensure that they are given the opportunity to acquire knowledge and be better citizens in future.”
The governor, who stated that education is an expensive project to acquire, said “when the foundation is laid and infrastructure like that of FUTO is put on ground as a platform, it is the civic responsibility of the leaders to support the institution to maximize their objective.”
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Uzodimma, however, expressed delight in receiving the Governing Council and assured the members that he will support FUTO to thrive like her counterparts elsewhere.
On the controversies surrounding land allocation in FUTO, the governor noted that he has gone extra mile to investigate the problems and related matters, noting that he believes the problems can be resolved amicably.
He, therefore, appealed to both the natives and the visitors to the school, the management, staff and students to see the need for the school to operate in a peaceful environment by creating a win-win situation for all interested parties.
“This will allow FUTO community to enjoy the adorable Imo hospitality,” he added.
Reiterating his belief in synergy between the policies of the state and federal governments, the governor said: “There is every need to understand that government is one and that is why state governments always try to domesticate Federal Government policies to ensure that states can synchronise what the federal is doing to give the citizens a uniform development.”
Uzodimma further challenged the FUTO Governing Council to “think out of the box and see the university as a business school that will be able to fund itself and even make profit so that the reliance on Federal allocation or subsidy will be far reduced.”
Governor Uzodimma described FUTO as one of Imo State, South East and Nigeria’s most cherished Universities and declared his government’s willingness to support the university to succeed.
In his remarks, the Pro-Chancellor and the Chairman of the Governing Council of FUTO, Senator Jack Tilley-Gyado, said they come on the visit as a “mark of respect and protocol to the landlord and to assure him that FUTO will work in synergy with the government and people of Imo State under the present Governing Council.”
The Chairman noted: “That there is need to end the land crisis in FUTO, ensure security and remove all distractive atmosphere of uncertainty enveloping the university that has hindered both local and foreign investments in the school.”
He appealed, on behalf of the Council, to the governor to help them in settling the issue of land “by giving them a certified Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of the FUTO lands”.
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