Students and their parents as well as several other stakeholders have expressed sadness over the extension of industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for another 12 weeks, describing the development as barbaric.
ASUU whose members are lecturers of Nigerian public universities had originally been on a one-month warning strike and rolled the action over for another two months before it is now announced additional three months, all because the Federal Government did not yield to its demands, which all bother on funding.
By implication, all students in public universities, particularly the federal government-owned in the country would remain idle at home and for six months in a row should nothing happen by or before August.
The National President of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria ( NAPTAN), Ahaji Haruna Danjuma; the former Southwest Coordinator of the group, Deacon Olusoji Adam; among many others told Nigerian Tribune, on Monday, that the negative effects of the development would leave with Nigeria and its people beyond this generation.
They said the Federal Government ought to have resolved the issues in contention with ASUU long before now and therefore shouldn’t have been this prolonged.
They said all the issues raised by ASUU are genuine and for the sake of functional public universities and the government should, by all means, meet those demands at least to a significant level.
They said, after all, the demands form the Memorandum of Action (MoA) they both signed in 2020.
On the other hand, they asked ASUU to soft-pedal and resolve the issues with the federal government in a way that would not affect the students who are now at the receiving ends of the crisis.
Also, a traditional ruler, Oba Adedokun Omoniyi Abolarin on his Facebook page condemned the extension and the factors leading to it.
He said, “I am not just happy, our children ate not happy. They are disillusioned. I hope the Federal Government and ASUU will immediately find a lasting solution to this endemic crisis in our nation. For our children to stay back at home for another three months is unjust, unfair and uncalled for.
He, however, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to wade in immediately.
In a related development, students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Akoka went to the streets to protest the development, which they too condemned in its entirety.
They said they were tired of staying at home doing nothing and want both the federal government and ASUU to reach a truce over the matter for them to be able to return to class without further delay.
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