NBA Calls For End To ASUU Strike

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called for an end to the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The NBA President, Olumide Akpata, made the association's request known during a press conference at the two-day Legal Education Summit held in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

He made the call for the seriousness of the government in matters concerning the education system in Nigeria, specifying the area of allocation of budget.

The ongoing summit which started on Tuesday is in collaboration with Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti with the theme, “Reimagining Legal Education in Nigeria”. 

Akpata during the press conference said: “Our government should stop paying lip service to the issue of the strike. The government needs to get serious about how it wants to run education in Nigeria right from budgetary allocation.

“You can’t overemphasise how important education is in the life of any person. It is easy to ask teachers to go back to work, but how do you do the right thing to motivate them?

“Education at all levels must get the seriousness it deserves. Let the government fulfill its side of the pact. Education is too important to be left to politicking and grandstanding.

“Government should quickly do what is necessary to open our schools for normal activities.

“Strike and school closure is becoming a tragicomedy, it has reoccurred over and over again. With time, the brand 'Nigerian trained' may become an albatross, because employers will start asking how you were trained.

“So, It is important for the government to resolve the issue if they think education of the Nigerian children is still important.”.

The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Afe Babalola University who also chaired the 2022 Summit Planning Committee, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi said the legislators of the country have realised the decline in the legal education system, hence, the summit aimed at restructuring the system.

In listing the panelists of the summit, Oluwayi mentioned Vice President  Yemi Osinbajo, Chief Afe Babala (SAN), Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, and Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed.