News

News extra: ASUU extends roll-over strike by 2 months, as parents express frustrations

…NANS holds emergency meeting today

…As students take to menial jobs

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has extended its four-week warning strike by another eight weeks.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the union’s National Executive Council, NEC, held Sunday night at the University of Abuja main campus.

A statement signed by the National President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, released to the media yesterday, explained that the action to roll over the strike became inevitable, given that the Federal Government “failed to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2020 FGN/ASUU Memorandum of Action (MoA) within the four-week roll-over strike period.”

To this end, the university lecturers’ body said it resolved that the strike be rolled over for another eight weeks to give government more time to address all the issues in concrete terms, so students could resume as soon as possible.

The statement read: “NEC noted that the union’s leadership has held some interactive meetings with agents of government in the last four weeks that the strike action had lasted.

“However, NEC was disappointed that government did not treat the matters involved with utmost urgency they deserved during the four-week period as expected of a reasonable, responsive, and well-meaning administration.

“NEC viewed government’s response, so far, as a continuation of the unconscionable, mindless, and nonchalant attitude of the Nigerian ruling elite towards the proven path of national development which is education.”

The union added that it had no choice other than to continue its warning strike.

NANS holds emergency meeting today

Reacting to the development in a chat with Vanguard, President of National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Sunday Asefon, said the body would react appropriately during the week.

“You cannot get anything much from me now other than to say we are going to hold an emergency meeting of the national leadership of NANS on Tuesday (today) and whatever is decided there would be communicated afterwards,” he said.

Parents express frustrations

Also speaking on the development, President of National Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria, NAPTAN, Haruna Danjuma, said parents were frustrated about the whole issue.

He said: “Despite our pleas with the Federal Government and ASUU, the matter was still not resolved within the four weeks of the warning strike. It is not only parents that have waded into the matter or are concerned about it, leading monarchs and religious leaders in the country also stepped into the matter.

“The government should do the needful by creating conducive environment for our children to learn and for their teachers to teach. We all saw what our citizens went through coming back from Ukraine. If our education system here is okay, who will take the risk of going to those cold and far places to learn.

“We are more than frustrated about the development and we are again appealing to the government and the lecturers to consider the plight of our children and arrive at a mid course. From our findings, apart from the issue of funding, the IPPIS controversy is also making the lecturers unhappy.’’

Students take to menial jobs

Meanwhile, some students of public universities have taken to menial jobs to pass the time.

Loveth, a student of Federal University of Technology Akure, FUTA, has already started work as a stylist in a hair dressing salon in Mowe, Ogun State.

“Thank God that I have learned this before securing university admission. I cannot continue to waste my time waiting for ASUU to start work. It is not about the stipend I am paid, but to improve my skills too,” she said.

The same sentiment was echoed by another student, Grace, who said she would continue to learn her fashion design job until schools resume.

Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/03/news-extra-asuu-extends-roll-over-strike-by-2-months-as-parents-express-frustrations/