It has been eight months since Nigerian universities were shut down due to the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Not only that, the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic has also been a major factor that made students to stay at home in order to mitigate the spread of the novel virus in the country.
The dispute between ASUU and Government of Nigeria has been lingering for over a decade, the issue mostly affect the students of higher institutions, therefore, there is the need for government and ASUU to reach and agreement for the betterment of Nigerian students. Although, the statement of the ASUU president seems to be a little bit convincing, our major concern is how this association will find a way of expressing their demands without embarking on strike that academically affects students. There should be another way of resolving issues.
It is very unfortunate that our education sector is getting annihilated day by day and also the gargantuan population of students is skyrocketing, sometimes one might ask himself about the future of Nigerian students.
There is a popular saying “an idle mind is a devil workshop”, many students are jobless and doing nothing at home that will lead them to engage in nefarious activities, such as gangsterism, cybercrime, and other heinous crimes.
The ongoing strike followed the decision of the federal government to stop the payment of salaries of lecturers who have not enrolled on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Can this system help a student? This is a big question that we have to ask ourselves.
We strongly call on the government and ASUU to implement the agreement and resolve the issue that has been lingering for more than a decade for the betterment of the students and Nigeria at large.
By Kasim Isa Muhammad,Potiskum, Yobe state