A human rights activist and Executive Chairman, Centre for Human Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ), Comrade Adeniyi Alimi Sulaiman, on Monday, called on Nigerian students under the aegis National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) not to allowing any political campaign for 2023 general elections without resolving the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike action.
The rights activist also declared that the Nigerian Students should not allow the political campaign, particularly, that of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that put Nigerians into the current mess in our educational sector.
While condemning the proposition of the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu to members of the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), he urged the ASUU not to bow down for President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government option on the ongoing impasse between them over payment of six(6) months salary arrears.
He added that the Federal Government had the funds to offset the arrears but they were using political trick to bamboozle the members of the Union, adding that the Federal Government thar have been engaging in misplacement of priorities in recent time by donating huge funds to Afghanistan and neigbouring Niger Republic, could not complain of lack of funds to settle the ASSU demands.
Sulaiman in a signed press statement and copies were made available to newsmen on Monday, maintained that this is high time for Nigeria Students to protect their future from the hand of current political handlers by stopping all the political campaigns of ruling All Progressives Congress APC across the country ahead of 2023 general elections.
According to him, “It has been cleared that the current APC Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari has failed woefully in the area of educational sector of the country and this negates their electoral campaign promises on education in both 2015 and 2019 Presidential elections.
“This is also cleared that APC led Federal Government did not have solution to our educational problems than to add more salts to our injuries in the sector. It is very bad that APC Government could go about the political activities for the 2023 general elections without resolving the burning ASUU strike action.
“The ball is in the Court of Nigeria Students to save their future in the hand of current political leadership who did not care about their future because they have all their children trained in foreign land and private universities in Nigeria. The future of young Nigeria Students has been put in bleak and jeopardy and the students should do everything possible to put an end to ongoing strike action.A word is enough for the wise of the Nigeria Students”.
It would be recalled that millions of Nigerian students have been at home due to the ongoing ASUU strike across Nigerian universities for seven (7) months now and the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) government has displayed gross negligence in the education sector of the country.
Sulaiman further stated, “As a true Nigerians,we cannot fold our arms and watch our educational sector to be bastardized cum future of the children of the Nigeria masses before our eyes. It is time to join hands with educational loving Nigeria citizens to demand a total end to ASUU strike in Nigeria.
Sulaiman,who doubles as Convener,Save Lagos Group (SLG), supported his argument with the Article 18 of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where it makes provision for free education from primary school to university level,adding that the present APC led Federal Government allocated just 7.2 per cent of its 2022 national budget to education which shows the gross underfunding of education sector in Nigeria.
Recently, the Union disclosed that its meeting with the Prof. Nimi Briggs-led committee ended in deadlock because the committee presented award of a recommended Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS).
ASUU said the ‘award salary’ was “against the principle of collective bargaining, based on the Wages Boards and Industrial Council’s Decree No 1 of 1973, the Trade Dispute Act (1976), ILO Conventions 49 (1948), 91(1950), 154 (1988) and recommendation 153 (1981), Udoji Commission Report of 1974, and Cookey Commission Report of 1981.”
