Festus Keyamo, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has disclosed that the Federal Government cannot afford to borrow money in order to put an end to the lingering ASUU strike.
Mr Keyamo made the assertion while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, which was duly monitored by truthlive.net
He said; “Should we go and borrow to pay N1.2 trillion yearly?
“You cannot allow one sector of the economy to hold you by the jugular and then blackmail you to go and borrow N1.2 trillion for overheads when our total income would be about N6.1 trillion. And you have roads to build, health centres to build, other sectors to take care of.”
Mr Keyamo also called on parents across the country to beg ASUU.
“Like the President said the other time, those who know them, appeal to their sense of patriotism,” he said.
“Let them go back to classes. They are not the only one in Nigeria. They are not the only ones feeding from the federal purse. The nation cannot grind to a halt because we want to take care of the demands of ASUU.”
When he was asked if he could kneel down to appeal to ASUU to end the six months old strike, the following drama ensued between the anchor man, Seun Okinbaloye and Keyamo:
Seun: Hon Minister, you said earlier that you could need down to beg ASUU to call the strike, are you ready to do so now?
Keyamo: Yes I said so, do you want me to kneel down now? I will do so when I see them, they are not watching now.
Seun: Yes, that was what you said earlier, parents and Nigerians are watching you right now..
Keyamo: How do you know that they are watching? I will kneel down when I see them, I won’t do it now…
Seun Okinbaloye thereafter ended the program.
Video Below: