NANS begs Nigerian govt to implement agreements with ASUU

The National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) has implored the Federal Government to implement the demands by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in order to ensure an end to the ongoing strike.

The appeal was made by Sunday Asefon, the NANS President during an interview on Channels TV “Sunrise Daily”, monitored by Ripples Nigeria on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said he was surprised that ASUU and the Ministry of Education were yet to resolve their face-off, which had led to the current strike by the union.

He said, “I sincerely thought ASUU and the Ministry of Education would have resolved the issues, which, hopefully, are not major areas of dispute, warranting industrial action. To my surprise, I came back, and the strike is still on. Be that as it may, it is the mandate of my ministry to apprehend industrial disputes wherever they occur and we have apprehended this.”

Nonetheless, the NANS President urged all stakeholders to redress the issues in the interest of the students and the education sector.

“The meeting between ASUU and Federal Government ended in a deadlock and the former pledged to continue the strike until their demands are met which increases the suffering of the students.

Read also: NANS urges Buhari to effect downward review of N305bn INEC budget for 2023 polls

“Ngige, however, said the issues would be redressed before the end of the month. If NANS has not seen a concrete decision (as a press conference from ASUU about a suspension), we will embark on a protest in order for the authorities to take education seriously. The public primary school is in shambles, none of the public officials can send their wards to such schools; students are very angry due to amount of time already lost since the advent of the COVID-19.

“The FG should be responsive and sincere; I cannot hold ASUU responsible for this current strike though the association has its own flaws. All the FG needs to do is to implement the agreements, which are for the benefit of the students.

“I implore you to investigate on the state of the nation’s campuses; most of the Federal Universities’ projects are funded by TETFUND. Go to state universities and you are confronted with dilapidated buildings. Students are not happy with these incessant strikes and they ought to be in the negotiations since they are also a major stakeholder in this situation.”

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