ASUU Strike: NANS Directs Students To Mobilise For NLC’s Solidarity Protest

To guarantee effectiveness and large scale participation, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has directed university students across the nation to back the solidarity protest planned by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

NANS bemoaned the lingering strike spanning over four months embarked upon by ASUU over unpaid benefits and other unhonoured agreements, describing the NLC’s planned solidarity protest as an appropriate action that would add serious traction to efforts being intensified to ending the logjam.

The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, and the Central Working Committee of the labour union had last week unanimously agreed to join ASUU in solidarity protest to end the strike for reopening of the nation’s public universities.

Branding the NLC’s action as a right step in the right direction, the NANS’ National President, Sunday Asefon, in a statement in Ado Ekiti Wednesday, assured Nigerians that students would mobilise for the success of the protest.

Asefon said the closure of the country’s public universitities in the last four months had done incalculable damage to the country’s future and image in the eye of the international community.

The NANS’ leader added that it sounds so disturbing that students, who were to be engaged in academic works are now predisposed to all manners of criminalities due to the closure.

Asefon said: “On behalf of members of NANS, I wish to commend the national leadership of the NLC for their steadfastness and commitment to join forces with well-meaning Nigerians to advocate the end of the protracted ASUU strike.

“While NANS has organised various protest in the past with no substantial results, also our advocacy and consultation has not yielded any desirable result. We have activated political solution and we are very hopeful that an end is in the purview.

“However, we are in total support of the planned protest by NLC as we believe this will stem up the advocacy and assist in no mean measure to put adequate pressure on the federal government to do all that is required to stop the strike.

“I therefore direct all NANS structures across the country to mobilize and join NLC protest. NANS will only be involved in the mobilization of students to the protest sites and will act based on the direction provided by the NLC.

“The NANS’ structures across the country shall submit to the leadership of NLC all through the protest.

“Once again, I commend NLC and its leadership for their thoughtfulness and solidarity at this critical time.”