Stakeholders call On FG To Continue Dialogue With #ASUU—Stakeholders have expressed worry over the one month strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), calling on the Federation Government to continue dialogue with the union to prevent students from being on the street.
The stakeholders made the call in separate interviews with the Newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday.
They were of the opinion that the strike was coming at a time many institutions just resumed academic sessions.
A parent, Mrs Adenike Adesoga called on the Federal Government to continue with the dialogue with ASUU to find a lasting solution to the incessant strikes.
Adesoga also appealed to the government to be kind enough to meet the needs of the lecturers, saying the issues had dragged for too long.
Adesoga said that the demands of the striking lecturers had been on since 2009, yet nothing much had been done to address them to curb the strikes.
“Now the students are at the receiving end, we need to take into consideration the effect of these strikes on the students.
“My son from the University of Jos just came home today to start doing nothing at home for the next four weeks or even beyond as we don’t know if government and ASUU will reach a concrete agreement.
“The effect of this strike will turn out to what we might not all like because there is tendency for crime rate to increase,” she said.
A student of Enugu State University (ESUT) Chimaobi David expressed displeasure at the strike, saying that there would be disruption in the academic calendar which would prolong their years in school.
David said that many students stayed beyond the years they were meant to stay in school due to strikes.
He said that this development should be looked into so that students could graduate at the right time to enable them focus on their future.
Miss Princess Ejiga, a final year student lamented the ongoing strike action by ASUU, saying it would make some students be involved in crime and other social vices.
” We don’t know how long this will take but all I know is that strikes do not add to any students progress but only cause delay and retrogression.
” Students who have planned to go for their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme might not be able to go due to unnecessary delay.
” You plan to leave the university at age 26 or 27 but because of strike, you are still in school at age 30.
” What this means is that once you are 30-years, their is no way such students can serve his or her fatherland. This is very disheartening I must say,” she said.
Also, the National President, National Association of Nigerian Students, Mr Sunday Asefon said the association was disappointed at both parties for not putting measures in place to avert the strike.
” We are disappointed at the government for not doing everything possible to avert this embarrassment.
” We are also disappointed with the ASUU for reaching this conclusion irrespective of the implications to the students’s academic calendar, research, national security, and sanity,” he said.
Asefon, therefore, called on the Minister of Labour and ASUU to return to the table to end the strike.
Newsmen recalls that the National Executive Council and ASUU had embarked on a month warning strike owing to the union’s demands on revitalisation of public universities and earned academic allowances.
Other demands are the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) promotion arrears, renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement and inconsistencies in Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) payments.
The union had also earlier issued a three-week ultimatum to the Federal Government, urging it to address all pending issues to avert another round of strike
