Barring urgent interventions from the Federal Government regarding ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), students under the auspices of National Union of Nigerian Students (NANS) may not exercise their franchise in the forthcoming elections.
This was revealed on Wednesday in Abuja by the FCT chapter Chairman of NANS, Mojeed Kolawale Omolaja, on the sidelines of a one day conference organised by Online Publishers Association of Nigeria (OPAN) with the theme: Free Press and Objective Reporting in the 2019 Election Year.
Recall that students of public universities have been stuck at home, following the strike by ASUU.
While stakeholders of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have expressed fears over the possibility of the strike jeopardizing next month’s polls, the Federal government claimed to have entered a pact with the striking academicians to put an end to the strike.
Reacting to the lingering strike, Omolaja said, “Let me inform you that Nigerian students will not vote in the forthcoming election if academic activities do not resume in the universities.
“In this forthcoming elections, we the FCT chapter of NANS that controls other chairmen in other states, we have deemed it fit that we are not going to participate in the election except they call off the strike because it appears they are toiling with our future.
“Their children are going to school abroad and we are left behind here and they still want their children to come and rule over us in spite of their lackadaisical attitude towards our education.
“It is quite unfortunate that at this point in time students are at home doing nothing and we all know that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
“The major reason we are at home is that ASUU is on strike and we expected the Federal Government to meet up with their demands because this incessant issue is a catastrophic setback to students.
“Imagine somebody will have to spend 7 to 8 years to finish a four-year programme. It’s not done abroad, is it because our parents don’t have the financial muzzle to send us abroad.”
Omolaja said students were at a loss why the recent agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU failed to produce results.
He also alleged that some government officials were capitalising on the strike to woo students to their side in view of the coming elections.
“We are not animals; we are citizens in the broader scale of the society and we have a role to play in nation building,” the NANS official stated.
He exonerated the FCT chapter from the group of NANS’ officials who paid a courtesy call to the President Muhammadu Buhari and profusely eulogised him, stating that stood for integrity.
“We in the FCT here are not part of those who went to eulogise the President; we stand for integrity and anything we get right in FCT will be gotten right in all the states of the federation because we lead and others follow.”
The FCT NANS chairman said the students were armed with their permanent voters’ cards having been sensitized to do so, adding that they would not allow politicians to use students to achieve their selfish ambition as it impacts on the future of the students and the youthful population in the country.
It was expected that the academic body would suspend the strike last week after the presidency approved the sum of N20billion to offset outstanding arrears of the 2009 and 2012, Earned Allowances for those who have gone through verification process in the university system.
Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige had told the media, “On the issue of salaries in tertiary institutions, especially in universities, the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant- General provided evidence that as at December 31, 2018, the Federal Government had remitted N15.4 billion.
“Also on the issue of Earned Allowances in the universities system, they also showed us evidence that Mr President has approved the N20 billion to be used to offset the outstanding arrears of the 2009 and 2012, audit verified earnings, in the university system”.
Although the release of the funds is still going through due processes, Ngige had assured the executives of ASUU that the funds will be released as soon as the bureaucracies are cleared.
However, when our correspondent visited the Federal Ministry of Labour last Thursday, the ministry was deserted and the minister had closed for the day.
ASUU President, Biodun Ogunyemi was expected to report back to the Minister on their resolution to end the strike but it appeared they could not arrive at a truce.
Ogunyemi had told our reporter that they were stilling consulting and that the strike was still on.
“It is the minister that said we should go and consult and get back to the Federal Government on Thursday.
” So, we are still consulting and will not be getting back to the Federal Government today, ”he added.
Among some of the demands that necessitated ASUU strike since November 4th was the implementation of the Memorandum of Action agreed to in 2017, including a shortfall in salaries of some workers in university staff schools as well as the NEEDS Assessment exercise carried out in 2009.
The Special Adviser to the President on Diaspora, Hon Abike Dabri Erewa, reacting to NANS chairman’s speech called for a meeting with the NANS chairman while appealing to him to rescind the decision urging his members not to participate in the polls.
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