Parents, Students, Stakeholders laments as ASUU strike reaces 100 days

The strike action embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has entered its 100th day.
Millions of students, including those undertaking postgraduate programmes have been idling away at home since July 2.
The failure of the federal government to fulfil resolutions reached with ASUU in 2009 and non-payment of accumulated earned allowances owed the university lecturers are yet to be addressed.
The face-off took a turn for the worse with members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) threatening to join the strike by shutting down primary and secondary schools in the country in solidarity with ASUU.
However, President Goodluck Jonathan, during a recent media chat, said that the lingering strike has political undertone.
Dr Uchenna Kanu, a concerned parent, bemoaned the length of the strike and the negative effect it has had on students. He said, “Our children have been out of school for nearly four months now and the polytechnic lecturers are also threatening to join, and NUT also. If this happens, it means that this generation of Nigerian youth will be blocked off from education and, if that happens, it will amount to an intellectual genocide -- that is, wiping out a whole race intellectually -- and that is what we are preaching against.”
He appealed to the warring parties to consider the plight of the students who are affected and reach a speedy resolution to the crisis. “All parties involved have their case, they have their cause that they are defending but we are appealing to them to realize that they are the intellectual parents of these children and parents never go on strike. So we are appealing to them and, at the same time, we are appealing to the government to not allow the relationship to degenerate to a point where teachers now take recourse to striking. Strike should be not only a last resort but a rare resort,” he said.
Mrs Onuigbo Elezue, another parent, stated that the free time that the strike has afforded the students has led to a marked increase in acts of misdemeanor. She said, “Our children have gotten into all sorts of trouble because they have too much free time on their hands. Many young girls get impregnated every day by young boys because their idle hands have become workshops for the devil.”
Among the affected students, our source discovered that there was a general air of gloom and anger directed towards the federal government and ASUU. Tope Okunlola, a fresh graduate awaiting NYSC mobilisation, expressed his disappointment that the students’ suffering is not considered at all. He said, “This has been 100 days of absolute shame. It is perhaps the highest mark of irresponsibility that the said leaders of tomorrow would be allowed to waste away like this while our counterparts in other countries and private universities leave us in the dust.”
Another student, Tobi Wojuola, advised students to make good use of the time the strike has afforded them and pursue productive and meaningful ventures. He said, “It has been approximately 2, 400 hours of striking time and if you are the student who sleeps 10 hours a day, then well-done, you have slept 1, 000 hours of striking time.

Source: Leadership NG

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