The National Association of Nigeria Students has urged universities owned by State governments across the country to resume, this is immediately after painting the indefinite strike as, “unpatriotic, wicked.
Sunday Asefon, the national president of the association, stated in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday.
Asefon further opined that extending the strike action declared was not difficult for the lecturers because majority of them have been engaged with different job appointments with private varsities.
He said, “We have taken the time to review the decision of ASUU to declare an indefinite strike after the ongoing six-month strike. We consider the decision not only unpatriotic, unnecessary but wicked and not in the interest of our nation nor the tertiary education system in Nigeria.”
“We call on State Government to forthwith liaise with Vice-Chancellors of state institutions to announce the resumption of academic activities and grant the Vice-Chancellors authority to enforce the resumption as state universities should never have joined the strike in the first place,” Asefon added.
The NANS President urged the leadership of the union in State Universities to humbly toe the path of honour and call off strike.
You will recall that the ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, said in the course of a interview on Monday that the National Executive Council of the union in Abuja “resolved to transmute the roll-over strike to a comprehensive, total and indefinite strike action beginning from 12.01 a.m. on Monday, 29th August 2022.”
Osodeke said the union has endured a “lot of deceit of the highest level in the last five and half years as the Federal Government of Nigeria engaged ASUU in fruitless and unending negotiation without a display of utmost fidelity”.
ASUU embarked on strike on February 14, 2022, over several issues including the non-payment of Revitalization Fund and Earned Academic Allowances as well as the non-adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution over the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
