NANS Slams FG, Lecturers Over Universities, Polytechnics Strike

Worried by the incessant strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the National Association of Nigerian Students has called for an immediate suspension of the nationwide strike declared by the lecturers.

Failure to call off the strike, the students said might force them to picket ASUU’s offices nationwide.

The lecturers and their counterparts in the polytechnics – the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics-are on strike over the refusal of the Federal Government to honour agreements reached with them on better conditions of service.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, NANS President, Yinka Gbadebo, said the integrity of the Federal Government was at stake for not honouring the agreement it entered into with the lecturers.

“We strongly charge the Federal Government to re-double its commitment to making education the bedrock of Nigeria’s development by engaging ASUU and all other stakeholders in the education sector in a one-off dialogue, implementable and re-assuring in the overall interest of the nation,” Gbadebo added.

The students, however, queried the sincerity of their lecturers in fighting for standards in the education system.

They wondered why the union had always abandoned its struggle once the lecturers’ salaries were jerked up by the government and were not concerned about students’ safety and welfare.

Gbadebo said, “Need we say lecturers rape, harass, extort and fail students at will! How many times have ASUU members gone on strike over these?

When contacted, the ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Faggae, said the union did not need the consent of the students before it embarked on strike.