Undergraduates of some Nigerian universities affected by the ongoing indefinite strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities have urged the Federal Government to accede to the demands of their lecturers.
The students in their separate reactions to the ASUU industrial action, while speaking with our correspondent on Thursday, noted that since the strike began, many of them had been loafing around while only few had been engaging themselves in assisting their parents in their various businesses.
The Students’ Union President of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Mr. Ibukun Oyekan, accused the Federal Government of “destroying” the future of Nigerian youths by provoking ASUU to embark on the strike.
Oyekan called on President Muhammadu Buhari to grant the demands of the striking lecturers without further delay.
He said, “My advice to the Federal Government of Nigeria is to heed the demands of ASUU because this is one of the things that will make this country to develop. To be frank, the Federal Government has not been getting it right and so they need to get it right this time around by granting the requests of ASUU.
“The Federal Government is only trying to destroy the future of the youths of this country and this is what ASUU is trying to guide against. In summary, we should all support ASUU and prevail on President Buhari and his team to yield to ASUU demands in order to revamp university education in this country.”
Also speaking, a 500 level student of Medicine, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Miss Costly Aderibigbe, said it had been traumatic studying in the university, saying the current ASUU strike was nothing compared to the prolonged internal crisis that had led to the closure of the institution for over 11 months.
She said, “Being a LAUTECH student at this time is traumatizing, owing to the fact that most of our students have been idle at home ever since our lecturers shut down the university for over eleven months now. The present ASUU strike is nothing compared to LAUTECH internal strike. It is really devastating.
“As a result of this ugly situation, I have learnt to be in control of my time and hence my life. Before the commencement of the ASUU strike, I had been running an NGO named Value Female Network with headquarters located in Osogbo, Osun State. So, as soon as we were stopped from going for hospital postings, I started touching people’s lives positively through my organisation.”
For a 300 level student of the Department of English in OAU, Miss Lawreta Agbor, the country’s political leaders had been insensitive to the not so conducive conditions under which university students study because they had none of their own children in schools in Nigeria.
She, therefore, challenged the Federal Government not to handle the current ASUU strike with levity.
Agbor charged the government to show more seriousness towards revamping university education in the country by pumping more funds into the sector.
ASUU had raised some conditions for the government to meet before the strike would be called off. The conditions include registration of Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company, discontinuation of the fractionalisation of salaries in federal universities, improved finding for state universities, payment of arrears and implementation of Earned Academic Allowance.
The lecturers also expect the Federal Government to order the release of funds for the revitalization of public universities as spelt out in the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding, prioritise guildelines for retirement benefits of professors in line with 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, exclude universities from the Treasury Single Account policy and rescind its decision on finding support for universities staff primary schools.
