Students of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) in their numbers on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest at the Ugbowo campus gate on Benin-Lagos expressway over the four-week strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The situation, therefore, led to the blockage of the expressway, causing commuters to stay on the road for long hours and compelling many motorists to take alternative routes to and from Benin City.
Displaying placards with various inscriptions such as “FG settle ASUU, Enough is Enough, 5 years course don turn to 7 years,” the protesting students decried the unending industrial strike by the union, appealing to the Federal Government to grant their request so as not to disrupt the academic calendar.
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Foster Amadin, president of the Students Union Government (SUG), UNIBEN, who spoke on behalf of the students, expressed concern over the strike, noting that it has resulted in the extension of the number of years spent doing undergraduate programs in Nigerian universities.
“We have been going to classes for the past two days and there is no lecturer to teach us. So we have nothing to do. We asked what was happening, they told us ASUU is on strike again; that they are on a one-month warning strike.
“So, we now felt let’s also come to the street to say we are tired; that we express our grievances to the Federal Government, to the state government and whoever cares to listen, that we are tired.
“We want to graduate. A programme that is supposed to run for four years, we are spending five years and even above. We don’t want it anymore. All we want is to go back to our classes. I want to graduate, I want to leave the school. I am tired and that is just our grievances,” Amadin said.
