There is no way all the requests being put forward by Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), would be granted, as doing so would cripple the country, the Federal Government said on Wednesday.
Minster of Information, Labaran Maku, while briefing the press after the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, urged the striking teachers to be considerate as their were other demanding sectors that also need to be attended to besides education.
He said government had been expending a lot on the development of tertiary education and that ASUU was not telling Nigerians the entire truth.
He said: “If we say every particular problem we face in this country we will not work until it is resolved, then I’m sure there is no sector that will work,” Maku stressed, pointing out that: ‘if we all insist that every sector problem must be completely solved, we will down tools we will not work, then the country will stop working.
“We are partners with ASUU. We are friends. They are our patriots and we understand the critical role that the universities teachers are doing to create a new society that we are hoping to have. But at the same time, this is a reality question that we need to look at and we have to put the nation first.
“I know all of us desire more from the system but the truth is that there are limitations and from the limitations we have, we believe that ASUU really needs to do rethink and ensure that we reopen our universities because really we are feeling the