ASUU Strike: Students May Stay Long At Home - ASUU Warns
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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that the ongoing strike by its members may be
prolonged as no concrete resolution has been reached in the negotiation with
the Federal Government.
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| ASUU Strike |
The union called on parents and
students to show understanding over the development so as to save Nigeria’s
university system from collapse.
ASUU National President, Biodun
Ogunyemi, made the appeal in an interview in Lagos.
University lecturers had on
November 5 embarked on a strike, demanding the implementation of the 2009
agreement it entered into with the Federal Government.
The lecturers are also calling
for full implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MoA) agreement with the
government in 2017; improved working conditions and welfare package; and
upgrade of facilities in universities across the country.
According to him, the strike is
not to short-change students, parents and other key stakeholders but to save
the country’s university system from collapse.
“We want to call on our
students and parents to show understanding with our struggle as we are in this
together.
“The whole essence of this
struggle is to ensure that our students get worthy and deserving certificates
that they will be proud of anywhere they may find themselves in the world.”
“The struggle is to ensure too
that we save Nigerian universities from going the way our public primary and
secondary schools have gone.
“Today, most parents are
sending their children and wards to private primary and secondary schools
around the country because of the perceived or alleged falling standards.
“We do not want our universities
to go the same way because a lot of our parents may not be able to afford the
private university fees,” he said.
The ASUU boss added that there
was an urgent need for both the federal and state governments to reconsider
their approach toward the development of universities to avoid an outright
collapse in the near future.
“The sad thing now is that the
World Bank is giving funds to some private universities to thrive over public
universities.
“Unless Nigerians rise to the
occasion and join ASUU in putting pressure on both the Federal and state
governments to pay adequate attention to our universities, secondary and
primary schools, we may be facing a total collapse of our educational sector,
‘’ Mr Ogunyemi said.
He noted that university
students might be staying longer at home as no concrete resolution had been
reached with the Federal Government so far.
Ogunyemi said that
representatives of the union met with the Federal Government on November 26 but
that the meeting ended in a deadlock.
“We met on Monday in order to
reach an agreement on the key issues we are agitating for but nothing tangible
came out of the meeting.
“Rather than come out with firm
commitment on what to do about these demands, they were appealing to us to go
back to the classrooms while they tackle the issues; and to us they have missed
the point.
“We were told that the
negotiation will continue on Friday, November 30 but up till now, as we speak,
I have not received any notice of meeting to that effect,” he said.
NAN reports that the ASUU first
met with the federal government on November 15 to deliberate on the issues.
Source: Vanguardngr
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