Mohammed Shosanya
Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria have disabused minds of some Nigerians on their perception on strike over agitations, saying that members of the union do not love going on strike.
Speaking with journalists on the campus of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete on Wednesday, the institution’s ASUU chairman, Abdulganiyu Sheu Salau, said that the union is tired of alleged hypocrisy of the federal government.
The union recalled that in 2009, the federal government reached an agreement with the ASUU on key issues bordering on conditions of service, funding and university autonomy without fulfilling the agreement.
“Members of ASUU are parents who have students in various Nigerian universities. Why would we want a case whereby our children are sent home?
“But we have to go on strike because we’ve reached out to government on several occasions and there was no response.
“We’ve gone through the normal doors and backdoors, but nothing has happened. And the last resort, as allowed by the law establishing universities, is to go on strike.
“Our members are being owed and some are leaving the country in droves for South Africa and England, for example.
“I want to say with all authorities that struggles and strike by the members of the union brought about some of the infrastructures we have today, especially, in this university.
” So, if we’ve not been struggling, Nigerian universities would have been down. We’re not strike mongers and we don’t always love to go on strike. We’re hardworking citizens”,said Salau.
The union also criticised the federal government for non-implementation of UNESCO recommendations of a 26 per cent benchmark educational budget for developing countries like Nigeria, as advocated for by the union.