Commuters of Lagos-Ibadan expressway were left frustrated Tuesday when some aggrieved students took their protest against the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike to the road. The strike has been on since February 14.
The students who took to the road as early as 9am were led by National Association Of Nigerian Students (NANS) Vice President, External Affairs, Akinteye Babatunde; Public Relations Officer, Giwa Yisa Temitope; Zone D Coordinator, Adegboye Emmanuel Olatunji; Deputy Senate President, Ekundina Elvis; Ondo JCC Chairman, Omotosho Surprise; Lagos JCC Chairman, Olusesi Tolulope Samson; Ogun JCC Chairman, Kehinde Damilola Simeon and Oyo JCC Chairman, Adeleke Quadri Abidemi.
The students are agitating for the end of the ongoing strike that has left so many Nigerian students in a worrisome state.
A statement released by the Giwa Yisa NANS PRO in conjunction with Zone D Coordinator, Adegboye Emmanuel Olatunji read: “As it is today, no higher institution in Nigeria is world class. Yet, our so-called public servants travel all over the world spending billions to send their kids abroad for studies.
As major stakeholders in the educational sector, we are the ones who can save ourselves. We have monitored the yearnings of students from campus to campus through their social media platforms and also in their public writings. Students all over Nigeria stand with ASUU. Our lecturers suffer the same hardships and mal-developments we suffer. The staff Houses are as bad as the Students Hostels. In South Africa, a Professor Laboratory is far more equipped than that of any university in Nigeria.
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“History has been killed and undermined so we the youths do not know where we are coming from not to talk of knowing where we are headed. But we will not lament anymore. The new leadership in NANS is here to work with students to achieve our set aims and objectives. We believe that the students’ movement has its space in . It is a task for which we vow to fulfill. We will never let Nigerian students down!
“It is on this note that we declare Forth: We Stand with ASUU. We Call on ASUU leadership for a meeting as soon as possible to discuss solidarity actions, and plan for the next phase of the struggles.
“We passed a vote of No Confidence on both the Ministers of Labour and Education. We call for the proper funding of the educational sector as against what has been attainable in the past seven years.
“We call on the Buhari government to pay all outstanding arrears and salaries of the lecturers. The policy of “No Work No Pay” is a Fascist one; it’s therefore condemnable and non-acceptable to all the millions of students in Nigeria.
“We will, by this statement, not beg again. We will be mobilizing all students to Shut Down the country (without excluding the Presidential villa). No Education, no movement.”
The NANS officials also accused the government of going back on the agreement they had with ASUU and besieged the government to uphold their promise for the sake of educational institutions of the country.
