Hope of Nigeria’s varsity students to resume before general election may be dashed
University Lecturers do not seem to be moved by the latest passionate appeal by President Muhammadu Buhari to return to classes nationwide because of the students.
This is because the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, University of Calabar (UNICAL) branch has said the body is prepared to remain on strike till 2023 if necessary.
Chairman of ASUU in UNICAL, Dr Edor J. Edor said the body is prepared to continue the strike until the Federal Government is ready to meet the demands of the body.
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According to DAILY POST, the university don made the statement while reacting to Buhari’s appeal that ASUU should call off the lingering industrial action.
He said Buhari’s appeal is a political gimmick, insisting the ASUU strike was embarked upon in the interest of the same student the president is blackmailing them with.
He called on the Federal Government to attend to the demands of the body, if it genuinely cares about the students, as the lecturers are willing to continue the strike till next year, despite their salary being withheld.
Edor said: “It’s actually because of the plight of the students that ASUU is on strike. It’s because our students have no reagents in their laboratories, no libraries, no good hostels, no recreational parks, no facilities in the universities, and no lecture theatres, which is exactly why we are talking about the revitalization of universities.
“It’s exactly because of our students that we are asking the Federal Government to pay lecturers a living wage and not a slave wage, so that lecturers would be able to research and be in a good state of mind, mental health, so they would be able to teach the students.
“So, calling on lecturers to suspend the strike because of the plight of the students, let me put it back to Mr President that we are on strike because of the plight of the students.
“If the welfare of the lecturers is compromised, then it will rub off on the students. The ripple effect goes down straight to the students. If the lecturer is not well paid, the student is affected, if the universities are not properly funded, the students are affected, so it’s because of the students that we are on strike.
