By Kunle Ibrahim
July 13, 2022
The Director of IRFAN CENTRE Nigeria and postgraduate student in one of the Nigerian Universities Mr. Nurudeen Ibrahim has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to ban the Academic Staff Union of Universities for their intermittent strikes which have so far destroyed the lives of so many Nigerian students and have negatively affected the development of university education in Nigeria.
Mr. Nurudeen said as Nigerians we want an education without disruption. We want a system where the undergraduates will not spend more than the stipulated academic years. We want a university where PhD students will be made to graduate at the appropriate time. It is sad that some students spend 11 years or more for their PhD and ASUU as a body has not seen anything wrong in such. ASUU did not see anything wrong in people like Professor Ojerinde, Ex-JAMB registrar involved in N900 million naira fraud. There are so many Ojerindes in the Nigerian universities today that are hindering the development of education: Head of Departments misappropriating departmental funds and other academic staff molesting our female students as well as those whose atrocities continue to flourish have never been condemned by the so called ASUU. Today we have so many of the university lecturers that will not show up in class to lecture students but are all engaged in private universities for additional incomes while they still get paid by the FG for services not rendered. Some few students may be fortunate to get handouts (materials) to read from some of these lecturers while the demons among them will not bother to send any material. They show up during exam time. Some will just come to give briefing of his course few days to exam. They are making life difficult to students. ASUU is less concerned about all these atrocities.
Many parents whose children live in private hostels have continued to go through the hardships of renewing rents and paying more for an academic session without a definite end.
The worse of the matter is that at the end of the strike all those involved are all paid salaries and entitlements at the end of the day. There is nothing useful in ASUU except the setback they cause to the lives of innocent students and their continued destruction of the Nigerian Government universities. It is now as if ASUU was created to cause setback to the development of education in Nigerian universities and also to destroy the lives of innocent Nigerian students.
We urge the government to ban ASUU permanently and arrest all their leading excos while charging them to court for criminal offences in destroying the lives of innocent Nigerian students.
We don’t want ASUU again in this country. They should leave our universities alone and allow us to enjoy a smooth academic year.
In addition, as students we do not see anything good in ASUU. Whenever ASUU is mentioned, we perceive Demons and we become sad that a significant part of our lives is about to be wasted. ASUU has continued to be a nightmare to Nigerian students and by that we want the government to remove this nightmare by just banning this association and let us study in peace. They are free to take up other jobs either in private universities or other companies where their competence may be required. Their resignation will be a great blessing to Nigerian universities and Nigerian students since the job is not profiting them. We implore all ASUU members to seek profiting jobs elsewhere and we wish them good luck. Their leaving will bring job opportunities to young vibrant graduates who are still helpless in getting jobs.
In conclusion, all members of ASUU should be sacked. All the lecturers involved in the strike should be sacked and the FG should employ new set of young lecturers among the youths that are willing to work.
