Students to Spend More Time at Home as Union Says Strike May Last Until 2023
- The national president of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) has said that there seems to be no end in sight to the ongoing strike action
- Anderson Ezeibe warned about the government's refusal to meet the demands of all the universities' unions
- According to Ezeibe, FG has consistently shown its lack of commitment to improving education in Nigeria
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed!
Despite the delay and frustration faced by Nigerian students over the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities strike, there are indications that schools might not be resuming soon.
Daily Trust reports that the national president of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic, Anderson Ezeibe, said that the industrial action that has kept students in school might not end in 2022.
Speaking at a meeting held with members of the union in Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun state, Ezeibe warned that the federal government is yet to meet demands made by the various agitating academic groups, a year after a Memorandum of Action was signed by all parties.
Noting that the Nigerian government has failed to honour the agreement, Ezeibe admitted that ASUP had embarked on a two-month strike in 2021 to protest the government’s refusal to meet their demands.
PAY ATTENTION: Join Legit.ng Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!
FG treatment to universities' unions
The Punch reports that Ezeibe warned that the ongoing two weeks by the union is in protest against FG's treatment of their agreement.
He also described FG's action toward education in the country as irresponsible and a show of a lack of commitment to improving education in Nigeria.
His words:
“It is only in Nigeria that you go on strike to sign an agreement, you also go on strike to implement the agreement.
“We call on the attention of the Nigerian government and the public to the level of irresponsibility being displayed by agencies of government and functionaries of government in these agencies on our issues. What we are seeing is a clear absence of commitment by the government."
“Our members should be prepared for more strikes, this is just a two weeks definite strike, it also means that we can recommend the strike, depending on the government decision. that is why I’m telling my members to be ready."
My children also affected, minister of education Nwajiuba sympathises with ASUU over strike action
Nigeria's minister of education on behalf of the federal government had pleaded with the leadership of the ASUU to end the ongoing strike action.
Emeka Nwajiuba said that while the FG understands that the demands of ASUU are genuine, it also believes that a strike is not the best approach to resolving these issues.
According to the minister, the industrial action is affecting every citizen of the country in one way or the other including his family.
Over 10 million Nigerian girls not in school, UNICEF warns, adopts new initiatives
Currently, there are about 18.5 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, the United Nations Children's Fund has said.
The international agency said the figure is a sharp increase compared with the number of out-of-school children in the country in 2021.
According to UNICEF, 60 per cent of the population of children - which amounts to 1,100,000 children - are girls.
Source: Legit.ng
