The Sultan of Sokoto yesterday joined the long list of eminent citizens and ordinary folks, who have pleaded with members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and resident doctors to return to work and embrace dialogue in resolving their disputes with the federal government.
Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, who is the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, spoke at his palace in Sokoto while delivering his Eid-el-Kabir message.
“We wish to use this opportunity to call on all those on strike, especially university lecturers, to call off their strike, so as to reduce the suffering of the people,” he said, adding that “they should go back to the negotiating table in order to bring an end to the crisis”.
Sultan Abubakar further said: “The matter is of great concern to Nigerians. This creates problems in the development of the country. We call on the government to listen to the complaints of the workers with the intention of solving them. The workers, on their part, should always be mindful of the suffering of teeming populace in the country.
“The strike by university lecturers, which is in its fourth month now, has caused a lot of hardship to millions of students and their parents, just as the strike by medical doctors has led to loss of several lives and untold sufferings for the sick, who cannot afford going to private clinics,” the Sultan lamented.
He, therefore, appealed to the lecturers and medical doctors to call off their strike actions and go back to the negotiation table in order to resolve the industrial crisis.
The monarch also expressed worry over the insecurity situation in the country, saying “it is a matter of great concern”.
He urged Muslims to live peacefully with all and avoid all acts of violence.
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