The President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Mr Sunday Asefon, has pleaded with ASUU to sheathe its sword and call off its lingering strike for the sake of students who have been at home for six months.
Asefon,explained that students were eager to return to school to complete their academic programmes, which initially suffered setbacks on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“If ASUU calls off the strike today, I can assure you that by tomorrow, all our universities will be filled,The only news students want to hear now is that the strike has been called off.” He said
He however praised the union’s leadership for championing the cause of the Nigerian university system.
He said, “If ASUU calls off the strike today, I can assure you that by tomorrow, all our universities will be filled. We are ready and we are tired of staying at home. The strike has really affected Nigerian students academically.
“Those doing research cannot do that and those who could have graduated and moved on to the next level of their lives and careers are not able to do so. Those who felt that by now, they should be serving their country as members of the National Youth Service Corps are not able to do so.
“A lot of fresh students were meant to come into the university, but the universities were closed. So, the joy of getting admission into the university has been cut short.”
Asefon recalled that in 2021 when schools resumed after the lockdown occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and the strike by the union in 2019, lecturers rushed to bridge the gap but that it was unfortunate the strike commenced again.
He added, “This strike has got to a point where ASUU needs to get what it wants. It will be fruitless to be at home for over five months without making a mark, but ASUU also needs to look at areas where it should soft-pedal and sheathe its sword for the sake of the students. The only news students want to hear now is that the strike has been called off.”
