Some students of Ebonyi State
University (EBSU), Abakaliki, on Thursday appealed to President Goodluck
Jonathan to intervene and stop the ongoing strike by university lecturers.
Abakaliki – Some students of Ebonyi
State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, on Thursday appealed to President Goodluck
Jonathan to intervene and stop the ongoing strike by university lecturers.
The students said that the ongoing
strike in its 4th day was not in the interest of university education and
commended lecturers in EBSU for not participating in the strike.
The students, who spoke include Miss
Rebecca Okoro, a 200 level student of the Department of Biotechnology as well
as Enyinnaya Oko and Stephen Onwe both first year students of the Department of
Mass Communication.
They said timely intervention by
Jonathan would salvage the situation and appealed to him to act fast to save
the university system from collapse.
The students expressed regret that
their colleagues affected by the strike had remained at home.
“We commend the wisdom and decision
of the local ASUU chapter for not participating in the ongoing industrial
action.
“You know we just resumed on May 12
for academic activities after six weeks closure of the institution by the
authorities in the wake of violent protests by students over fee hike.
“Joining the strike now will have serious
consequences on the students of the university.
“We, however, feel for our
colleagues in these affected universities who are now wasting in their
respective homes,’’ Okoro said.
The students said that their first
semester examination had just started before the commencement of the ASUU
strike.
They said that the industrial action
embarked upon by the ASUU could distort the smooth running of the academic
calendar if nothing was done to end it soon.
The students decried the alleged
lack of commitment by the government to the fulfillment of agreements with
labour unions.
According to Okoro, the indefinite
strike is a setback to the higher education sector.
She called for concerted efforts to
end the strike.
“We understand that this agreement
was reached between ASSU and Federal Government representatives since 2009 and
one wonders why government has refused to implement the terms of the
agreement,” she said.
One said: “We completely detest the
posturing of government in the whole issue but we are appealing to Mr President
to urgently intervene.
“His timely intervention will no
doubt facilitate quick resolution of the impasse in the interest of Nigerian
students,’’ he said.
Dr Isa Fagge, the National President
of ASSU, had directed members of the union to embark on an indefinite strike
over the non-implementation of some of the issues contained in their agreement
with government in 2009.
He alleged that the government had
reneged on the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the union in December
2011. (NAN)
Some
students of Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, on Thursday
appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene and stop the
ongoing strike by university lecturers. - See more at:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/07/students-appeal-to-jonathan-to-end-asuustrike/#sthash.JWXvhERv.dpuf
