ASUU Strike: Nigerian Women To Organise National Mass Protest

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Save Public Education Campaign has said it will organise a national mass protest in a bid to put an end to the incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Vivian Bello, the administrator of the organisation made this known while speaking at a conference in Abuja on Monday.

The leader said women were on the receiving end of the problems faced by Nigerian students, adding that only people's will could put an end to the challenges facing public education.

“Education is non-negotiable as there is no alternative to it. The insecurity we are experiencing today is traceable to the failure of the education sector.

“We have watched with total awe and abhorrence the near-total collapse of Tertiary Education in Nigeria.

“Distressing statistics show that ASUU has been on strike for a total of over 725 days, since the beginning of this administration over issues that bother largely on poor welfare, university autonomy and lack of adequate funding for universities.

“When tallied inversely, this amounts to an entire two and half years’ loss, in the educational lives of innocent Nigerian children/students in public universities across the country.

“It did not end there; the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, ASUP and COEASU are all also currently on strike on similar issues as ASUU.

“We all can see clearly, that this is an all-round collapse of the tertiary education in the country,” Vivian said.

The NGO convener appealed to the government to pay attention and put in their resources to face the issues of tertiary education in the country.

Bello expressed her concern over the 1.29 trillion budgeted for education which is 7.9 per cent of the country's budget, claiming it contrasts with the 26 per cent minimum recommendation by UNESCO.

“We make bold to say that if the government will change strategy and invest a greater proportion of the resources it is expending in the insecurity campaign in providing robust, efficient and quality educational system, within a calculated period of time, insecurity will gradually die a natural death.

“In order words, we submit boldly that education can be a veritable panacea to insecurity in Nigeria.

“In the light of the foregoing, therefore, we unequivocally demand that the negotiation process of the strike action, including as led by the Prof. Nimi Briggs committee, be immediately concluded and signed.

“The IPPIS has been specifically described and pointed out with evidence by the striking academic unions as problematic, inconsistent and fraudulent.

“The platform should therefore be set aside while the proposed more credible alternatives; UTAS, U3PS deployed accordingly,” she added.

She advocated the immediate payment of unpaid salaries of the striking members of the academic unions while requesting the funding of public education at all levels.