Why NANS should protest against ASUU

                                                                          

                                                  ASUU members

There is no doubt that the current strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been politicized. This is so because since the academic union has been going on strike in the history of this country none has been prolong as this current one. Agreed that the demands of the union are genuine but the Federal Government has conceded to many of the demands of the union yet the body refused to shift ground! ASUU is asking for a whooping N800 billion; this is almost a quarter of the 2013 budget which is N4.9 trillion. Will only the education sector gulp a quarter of the budget at one fell swoop? Again, if the Federal Government gives ASUU the N800 billion it is asking for, will the union embark on all the projects it wants to actualize in the all the Federal Universities in one day and also complete them in one day?  There is no way ASUU will start all the projects and complete them in just one day! 

                                                                           

Since the Federal Government has agreed to give ASUU N130 billion as part payment of their total demands, it is only reasonable for ASUU to accept that amount of money and call off the strike. ASUU should accept that amount of money and commence the construction of the projects. It is not wise to keep the students at home for no other genuine reason. There are many questions begging for answers. Are the universities not generating funds internally? What happens to all the billions of naira the various universities across the country are generating from their students and business ventures they have? I think, at this point, the various universities should give account of all the funds they generate internally.

 It is certain that the ASUU strike has been politicized because one wonders what concerns state universities in this strike since it is not the responsibility of the Federal Government to pay their salaries and allowances. Why should state universities participate in this strike? Undoubtedly, the strike has gone past a mere demand to revamp the universities but rather to settled political issues. If not so, how does one reconcile a situation where the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has also threatened to join ASUU on the on going strike and shut down all primary and secondary schools across the country? What is the business of NUT in universities issues?

The continuous strike is unwise, unreasonable and uncalled for. Thus, I call on the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), led by Comrade Yinka  Gbadebo, to mobilize all university students to protest against ASUU so as to call off the strike. The strike is not to the advantage of the students but to the advantage of academic staffs of universities as they will receive all the salaries and allowances of the past months they have been on strike. But the students can never get the time, days, months and the academic works they have lost a result of the strike! The students must act now because they will be the losers at the end of the day. A stitch in time, they say saves nine.

Dear VME readers, don't you think ASUU should accept the N130 billion proposed by the FG, call off the strike and continue with the negotiation? Is it wise for ASUU to keep the students at home in perpetuity? Please leave your comment in the comments section. Thank you.