Students Beg ASUU Not to Go On Nationwide Strike Again

 

The Academic Staff Union of Universities have been urged not to embark on another nationwide strike.

 

The appeal was made by Sunday Asefon, President, National Association of Nigerian Students.

 

He begged the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities, ASUU, to find a common ground in the interest of the future of the students in order to avert industrial action.

 

The President of NANS lamented that another strike coming on the heels of last year’s grounding of the country’s universities as a result of the industrial action would not go down well for education in the country which has serious consequences on the students.

 

Recall that ASUU had last week threatened to resume the industrial action it suspended in December 2020 over the Federal Government’s alleged failure to honour many of the agreements it signed with the lecturers.

 

A statement titled, “NANS pleads with ZASUU, FG to find common ground to avert another industrial Action”, noted that the since the inception of the democratic dispensation in 1999, ASUU has now gone on accumulated strike for over five years.

 

According to NANS, “This development is not only worrisome, but also portends great danger to the education sector, national development, research, and security in Nigeria.”

 

The students are of the belief that ASUU is entitled to press home its demands, adding that the lecturers as parents, should consider the students’ interest at the centre of their negotiation.

 

The students added that their education must not be allowed to suffer over the labour disagreements with the government.

 

They also called on the Federal Government to consider the implication of another industrial strike on their education and national security and find a lasting solution to the contending issues raised by ASUU.

 

According to the students, “No responsible government should allow another industrial action in less than a year after the longest industrial action in our history.”

 

The statement noted that government must show genuine commitment to their previous agreement with ASUU to ensure any possibility of another industrial action is averted.

 

The students, however, called on both parties to act as parents and do all that was required to solve the impasse without resorting to another industrial action, adding that it was not only honourable, but was also necessary for national security.