Sack Varsity Lecturers Over Indefinite Strike, NANS Tells FG

Ayu Esuku | Fountain Newsbreaker NG

The National Association of Nigerian Students(NANS), has urged the federal government to apply its power to "hire and fire"any employee in dealing with the university lecturers over declaration of indefinite.

It accused the Academic Staff Union of University(ASUU) of advertently promoting the private universities, where many of them currently work and have their wards.

NANS considered the decision by ASUU to declare indefinite strike after six months of warning industrial action, as  not only "unpatriotic and unnecessary", but "wicked and definitely meant to collapse the public universities and promote private ones".

NANS' President, Sunday Asefon, said this in a statement reacting to ASUU's declaration of indefinite strike last week to press  for some pending demands for lecturers.  

 Asefon stated that such a decision was easy for ASUU to take because many of their leaders don't have their wards in public universities and that many lecturers are employees of various private universities around the country.

He lamented the alleged destructive disposition of ASUU members to the growth of public universities, accusing them of not wary of the imminent collapse of the system by their conduct.

"Some of them are not on any way affected by their attempt to collapse the sector for their selfish and inconsiderate gains. ASUU had succeeded initially to masquerade their strike action as being  in the interest of  Nigeria and in the interest of the teeming Nigerian students.

"Events of recent weeks have therefore made it abundantly clear that ASUU has an ulterior motive ,which is to collapse university education system in Nigeria and systematically promote private Universities where many of them have their children.

"Government must maintain its position as an employer and use its power to hire and fire effectively at this time to save our education system from the total collapse planned by ASUU", he said. 

Asefon, therefore, called on the Federal Government to investigate the leadership of ASUU with the aim of unraveling their motivation for their insistence on collapsing the public university system in Nigeria.  

"The declaration of the indefinite strike after virtually all ASUU demands had been met must be considered an act of educational terrorism and economic sabotage, government must act fast and be ruthless in dealing with anyone found culpable to serve as deterrence to others who might want to hold the nation at ransom and perpetuate systemic terror attack on the nation.  

"However, we condemn in totality the insistence of ASUU on payment of six months' arrears for the entire period of the strike before they can call off the strike. This demand is not only insensitive; it is selfish, inconsiderate, and uncharitable. 

"The six months are periods of no work, we, therefore, encourage the government to use every available legal window available to it and ensure that ASUU does not kill our tertiary education system.  

"We call on State Government to forthwith liaise with Vice-Chancellors of state institutions to announce the resumption of academic activities and grant the Vice-Chancellors authority to enforce the resumption as state universities should never have joined the strike in the first place. 

"We, therefore, plead with ASUU leadership in state institutions that had been so ridiculed and labeled quarks by the National President of ASUU to toe the path of honour and save their institutions from the verge of total collapse by calling off the strike".