It's been two months since the
Academic Staff Union of
Universities embarked on a
nationwide indefinite strike. This
was as a result of the inability of
the Federal Government to
implement some of the issues
contained in a 2009 agreement it
had with ASUU. Recently Saturday
Vanguard spoke with parents whose
children are affected as they
begged the government to reach a
compromise with ASUU .
Government not feeling the strike
because their children are in
private universities- Ohwaguono
Onos
Mr. Ohwaguono Onos, a parent and
a post graduate student of
University of Lagos( UNILAG), who
was affected by the strike has this
to say.
"The ASUU strike has made my
children shift focus to other things
that are costing me additional
funds I didn't budget for. And
parents who cannot engage their
wards in these suffer distress and
heart-aches because of the
nuisance the students constitute
at home. One thing I have learnt is
that after each episode of strike,
the students are no more focused
even when they resume lectures
because they have been out for so
long. ASUU went on strike because
they want the govenrment to come
to their plight and help them.
"If the Senators can have sitting
and sleeping allowances, then the
builders of these characters should
be considered; they are the
lecturers. My only pain is that
these ones in government are not
feeling it because their own
children are not in the Federal and
State universities. Their children
are abroad schooling, their
children are in private universities.
Most of the people in sensitive
government positions are the
owners of most private Universities
which are funded by our own
money. How can the strike affect
the government? Our plea is for
the government to listen to the
masses, listen to ASUU and help
them; that way they are helping us
and saving the future.
Federal government should meet
the demands of the lecturers -
Oluranti Olushola
Mrs Oluranti Olushola, a teacher
who said her son was affected by
the strike pleaded that the Federal
Government should help them so
their children can go back to
school. "I am seriously appealing
to the Federal Government, on
behalf of Nigerian parents, to end
the strike and make education a
top priority and also save the
education sector from imminent
collapse."
She noted that the government
voluntarily entered into an
agreement with the union in 2009
to fund universities better and
meet some other demands of the
union. "The Federal Government
must at all costs meet the
demands of the union to save the
future of our children," she said.
Government should avoid workers'
strike - Mrs Ruquiyat Adebayo
Another teacher, Mrs Ruquiyat
Adebayo disclosed that that ASUU's
demands were genuine. She urged
the government to make any
sacrifice to improve the education
sector. Mrs Adebayo also advised
the government to avoid workers'
strike by meeting their demands
early."ASUU is not asking for too
much. It's demands are justified.
We have the resources in this
country, and we must set our
priorities right. Education must
come first in all our
plans."Whatever it will take,
Nigeria must improve the welfare
of the University teachers," she
said.
Governmet should resolve the
conflict with ASUU - Moturayo
Madandola
Mrs Moturayo Madandola whose
child was affected by the strike
said government should resolve
the conflict with ASUU quickly to
save the University system from
collapse. "The Federal Government
should accede to the demands of
the striking union so that our
children can go back to school,"
she said.
Government should be considerate
- Malik Alabi
Malik Alabi, a businessman
expressed his feelings with anger
saying, "don't mind those people
in government , all their children
are schooling abroad. How would
they remember us? They only plan
to travel to Dubai for vacation,
travel out of the country for
medical check up, send their
children to Harvard and all the
good schools abroad. These people
should also consider the parents
who suffer to pay school fees for
our children . I have two children
at OAU and they are both at home
doing nothing and it pains me a
lot . My only plea is that Federal
Government should help us
because the parents are the ones
suffering it more".
Four -year course is running six
years because of the strike -
Deaconess Joy Osewengie
Deaconness Mrs. Joy Osewengie, a
mother of two students in the
University of Benin (UNIBEN)
expressed her concern saying, "The
ASUU strike has turned into
something else; my children are
not doing anything at home.
Courses that are supposed to run
for four years are now running six
years and above. When will the
children finish their programmes in
the Universities and become very
useful to their family and the
society?
"The government should know that
an idle mind is the devil's
workshop. We should bear in mind
that these ones are the future of
this great nation and if they are
half baked because of strike and
crisis, then we may end up with a
very sick nation."
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