Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has urged the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to sheath their swords so students can return to their public universities.

“I urge all parties in the ASUU/FG saga to sheathe their swords and allow the sleeping dog to lie so that our children can go back to class,” the governor said.

Mr Uzodinma appealed on Wednesday when he received members of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), who paid a working visit to him at Government House, Owerri.

The governor said any sacrifice made on the parts of ASUU and the federal government to end the lecturers’ strike and achieve students’ return to class should not be seen as misplaced.

“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, and any sacrifice made in this regard will be worth the while,” he said.

Speaking on the lingering controversies surrounding land allocation in FUTO, the governor noted that he had investigated the issues in contention and that they could be resolved amicably.

He challenged the university’s management to “think out of the box” and see the institution as a business school capable of funding itself to reduce reliance on federal allocation or subsidy.

The pro-chancellor and chairman Governing Council of FUTO, Jack Tilley-Gyado, thanked the governor for his interventions in the lingering ASUU/FG impasse.

He also thanked the governor for aiding FG’s approval of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, as a part of the Faculty of Medicine and Clinical Training of FUTO.

Mr Tilley-Gyado said this was an indication of his commitment to education.

He appealed to the governor to help in settling the land boundary disagreement between the University and its host communities by issuing a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of the FUTO lands to the institution.

(NAN)