Alumni associations of Nigerian universities have warned that the lingering strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) could lead to disastrous consequences for the nation.
In a letter yesterday, the alumni associations urged the Federal Government and the striking lecturers to resolve their differences.
They said: “The under-listed alumni associations of Nigerian universities have expressed concern over the unabated crises between the ASUU and the Federal Government and the continued closure of universities in Nigeria.
“In a letter by Presidents of the University Alumni Associations, the concerned associations stated that no nation wanting to get to the Promised Land, and indeed aspiring to be a member of the comity of enlightened
nations would toy with education.
“They stated that globally, education is government-driven, followed by other linked chains, like lecturers, parents, students and other stakeholders. In this connection, the associations urged the Federal Government to urgently put in place a mechanism to holistically address the concerns and demands of the striking lecturers and other university workers.
“The associations drew the attention of government to the recurrent crises in the country, especially the spate of terrorism, banditry, kidnappings, money rituals, prostitution, and other social vices, and noted that these are some of the consequences of youths not being critically engaged.”
The letter was signed by: Dr. John Momoh, President (Worldwide), University of Lagos (UNILAG) Alumni Association; Prof. Ahmed Tijani Mora, National Chairman, Conference of Alumni
Associations of Nigerian Universities
(CAANU), for ABU Alumni Association; Prof. Elsie Adewoye, President, University of Ibadan (UI) Alumni; Prof. Yakubu Aboki Ochefu, President, University of Calabar Alumni; Pastor Nuhu Sani,
President, University of Jos Alumni and Pastor Ule Williams Glad, President, University of Port Harcourt Alumni.
Also, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to use his fatherly intervention to resolve the lingering strike by the ASUU.
Addressing reporters in Abuja, the newly elected NANS President Usman Barambu described as worrisome the lingering dispute between ASUU and the Federal Government which led to the closure of universities for about seven months.
Barambu noted that the incessant strikes has affected the academic calendar of public universities and had negatively impacted the future of Nigerian students.
According to him, a course of four years now lasts six years or more due to incessant strikes.
Also, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has urged the Federal Government and ASUU to end the strike that has crippled the universities for over six months.
ALGON made the appeal in a communiqué by its national officers – Umaru Boroli, Willi Okoliegwo and Babatunde Emilola-Gazal – at the end of the association’ 32nd National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
“We urge the Federal Government to immediately resolve and end the on-going strike with a view to achieving an all-inclusive growth for national development,” it said.
Also, the University of Ilorin (Unilorin) chapter of ASUU has urged well-meaning Nigerian leaders to intervene in the ongoing industrial dispute between the union and the Federal Government.
The chairman of the Unilorin chapter of the union, Prof. Moyosore Ajao, made the appeal while addressing reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
He also urged reputable organisations to intervene in the prolong dispute.
“Members of the union, like other well-meaning patriots, are equally not happy with the strike and its effects because they are also parents and guardians with children and wards studying in the nation’s ivory towers,” Ajao said.
But ASUU appeared recalcitrant about its strike.
The union yesterday said all its chapters that started the protracted strike remained intact and resolute to get from the Federal Government what public universities need to survive and compete globally.
It insisted that lecturers in Nigerian public universities have been using their blood to run the institutions and sustaining them.
The Chairman of the University of Ibadan (UI) chapter of the union, Professor Ayo Akinwole, stated this yesterday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The union leader urged Nigerians to disregard the rumour that the Federal Government had met ASUU’s seven demands.
He said ASUU gave the government a 14-month strike notice before it started the strike this year.
Akinwole said the effort of the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council in 2021 did not yield any good results before ASUU declared the strike on February 14, 2022.
He said: “We waited for 14 months, from December 2020 to February 2022, before declaring this strike. I am saying 14 months’ notice, 14 months of engagements. The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council intervened in 2021 when we would have declared the strike.
“We gave them one month with no result. Heroes are gone before they are appreciated. But our union will not die. We will not die. We are going to be alive to see this struggle through.”
Story By
Frank Ikpefan, Abuja, Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan and Tajudeen Adebanjo