ASUU Strike: Parents Urged To Begin Street Protest

AS the strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) entered its fourth month, parents have been told to go to the streets and protest the perceived non-challant attitude of the Federal Government.

The Co-adjustor Bishop of Ekiti Diocese, Most Reverend Felix Ajakaiye, who said this in Akure, on Wednesday, at an interactive session organised by the Ilorin Zone of ASUU, said parents should rise and join the union in the struggle for a better education system in the country.

He regretted that Nigeria was a country that relied on deceit, as the leaders of the nation had always been deceitful in their approach to issues that concerned the ASUU strike.

The clergyman, however, said if the Federal Government had refused to sign the agreement reached with the striking lecturers, going out in protest by the parents was a way to make sure government woke up.

Ajakaiye lamented the persistent fall in the standard of education in the country, saying that he threw the challenge to show that some leaders of the country did not have value for education.

He, however, regretted that the country was being led by some people that did not believe in its educational development, adding that one of such leaders had once said that a staff sergeant in the Nigerian Army was better than a university graduate in Nigeria.

The Director of the Justice, Peace and Development Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Church, Ondo Diocese, Rev.Fr. Benedict Koledoye, however, challenged ASUU to be steadfast in the struggle.

He said: “We identify with the ASUU in their struggle for proper funding of the Nigerian university. No doubt, Nigerian university is in serious mess, to a patriotic Nigerian, this struggle is long overdue. Our support is total and absolute.”

He said it was disturbing that despite the harrowing experiences being faced by the students and the lecturers in the last three months, the Federal Government had refused to genuinely seek a solution to the impasse.

Koledoye however, challenged ASUU not to give up on the struggle, as they were fighting for justice and peace.
http://www.tribune.com.ng/24092009/news/news4.html