Amos Kiri worries ASUU strike may push students into criminal activities

Amos Kiri, the president of the United Church of Christ in Nigeria (HEKAN), has cautioned that the prolonged Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike may lead to an increase in criminal activities in the country.

Kiri, who was speaking at the 56th Hekan annual national convention, held in Kaduna, on Sunday, April 3, 2022 said if students who were used to reading and other extra-curriculum activities were left roaming, the devil may have them back, as an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

The clergyman noted that if the students are made to overstay at home the result might not be too palatable in some communities across the country.

Consequently, he appealed to the lecturers on strike and the federal government to fast-track dialogue to end the lingering industrial action.

Kiri reiterated that as long as the students are made to stay at home, without anything to do, they could be initiated into cultism and drug abuse.

“The future, strength, and pride of any nation, community, or church are the youth.

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“Sadly, many of our potential, innovative, and future leaders and genus have been bewitched and trapped into devilish and destructive activities that are detrimental to their health and destructive to their lives,” he said.

Recall that ASUU declared a 30-day warning strike on February 14 after the union’s national executives’ council (NEC to NEC) meeting held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).

On March 13, ASUU in a meeting at Abuja rolled over the strike action to 8 weeks after efforts at negotiation with the federal government proved abortive.

The union claimed that the federal government deliberately delayed in deploying the University Transparency and Accountability Solution as the payment platform for university staff, the non-payment of the due tranche of Earned Academic Allowances.

Besides, ASUU frowned at the non-release of the earlier agreed N40 billion fund for the revitalisation of public universities, the unwillingness to sign the draft of the renegotiated 2009 agreement, the continued non-payment of promotion arrears, the non-payment of withheld salaries, and the non-remittance of deducted check-off dues of the union, among others.