The National Association of Nigerian Students has issued a warning that a new strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities would throw the country’s education sector into further instability.
The student body called on both the federal government and the union to resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiation.
In a statement released on Friday and signed by its President, Olushola Oladoja, along with the National Public Relations Officer, Adeyemi Samson, NANS expressed its concern regarding ASUU’s threat to embark on industrial action due to unresolved matters with the government.
NANS acknowledged the concerns raised by ASUU, which include “the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, outstanding salary arrears, withheld promotions, and the welfare of retired lecturers”.
However, it emphasised that “any industrial action will inflict irreparable damage on Nigerian students who are always at the receiving end.”
The association further stated, “One of the greatest achievements of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR is the establishment of the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which has already started easing access to higher education, and the maintenance of an uninterrupted academic calendar for over two years. These gains must be protected at all costs.”
It called on the federal government “to do everything humanly possible to sustain this progress by attending to ASUU’s demands with all sense of urgency and sincerity.”
Addressing ASUU, NANS urged that the union “must also demonstrate patriotism by jettisoning its planned strike and sustaining dialogue with the government. Nigerian students cannot afford another round of avoidable disruption to their academic pursuit.”
