The President, National Association of Nigerian Students, Sunday Asefon, has said the university system is on the brink of collapse due to the incessant strikes embarked upon by the academic and non-academic staff.
Asefon, who appealed that students should be pitied, having wasted a whole academic session at home to the COVID-19 lockdown and the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ strike, stated “We call for restraint and beg our unions to allow further negotiation and suspend further strike in the interest of these promising future leaders.”
The NANS president, in a statement on Monday, titled, ‘The Incessant Strikes in Nigerian Universities and Urgent Need to Save the Nation’s Ivory Towers, said the ongoing strike of the Non-Academic Staff Union and the Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities would destabilize and demoralize the students.
He cautioned that penchant for strike when dialogue could suffice had the capacity to destroy the education system, saying, “NANS is of the humble opinion that unions can advocate the welfare of their members, but such shouldn’t be by ego, muscle flexing and rivalry, the way academic and non-academic unions in our universities have been exhibiting.
“It is unpatriotic on the side of the government and our unions to subject the country’s future leaders to these academic rigors and agonies.
“They should please pity the students and parents and return to schools immediately.
“As we speak, students in many of the universities that just resumed for 2020/2021 academic session cannot complete their registration while those that had started have been finding it difficult to access lecture theatres that were under lock and key”.
