Strike: NANS Begs ASUU, FG, Tells Them What To Do

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has appealed to the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to find a common ground and avert another strike action.

The NANS president, Sunday Asefon on Monday told both parties that another strike action is not in the interest of Nigerian students.

He noted that students and the entire academic set-up in the country have already suffered enough from the various strike actions particularly recalling the last one which was just suspended in December last year after several months of disagreement between ASUU and the FG.

Naija News recalls University lecturers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have threatened to embark on another strike action that will halt academic activities in public universities in Nigeria.

According to ASUU, the union will not hesitate to resume its suspended strike action if the federal government continues to fail in honouring agreements between them.

ASUU Chairperson of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Dr. Ibrahim Inuwa, made this known while speaking with some journalists at the Union’s Secretariat last week.

He said the federal government has so far failed to honour its own end of the agreement as contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed before the union suspended its strike action in December last year.

However, in his reaction, NANS president, Asefon in a statement on Monday titled ‘NANS pleads with ASUU, FG to find common ground to avert another industrial Action’, said the incessant strike actions are not only worrisome but also dangerous to the growth and development of the nation’s educational sector.

While appealing to ASUU to jettison any strike action, he also called on the federal government to attend to issues raised by the union.

“Since the inception of this democratic dispensation in 1999, ASUU has now gone on accumulated strike for over five years.

“This development is not only worrisome, but also portends great danger to the education sector, national development, research, and security in Nigeria”.

The students said that although ASUU is entitled to press home its welfare needs, the lecturers as parents, should “consider our interest at the centre of their negotiation because we represent the succession generation and as such our education must not be allowed to suffer for the labour disagreements with the government.

“In the same vein, we call on the Federal Government to consider the implication of another industrial strike on our education and national security and find a lasting solution to the contending issues raised by ASUU.

“No responsible government should allow another industrial action in less than a year after the longest industrial action in our history. Government must show genuine commitment to their previous agreement with ASUU to ensure any possibility of another industrial action is averted.

“We call on both parties to act as parents and do all that is required to solve this impasse without resorting to another industrial action. This is not only honourable, but it is also necessary for national security,” Asefon stated.