ASUU urges students to remain calm as strike persists

BY ABRAHAM OLADIPUPO
AS the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarks on total strike, students of the University of Ibadan, who ought to have commenced their second semester examinations on Monday, June 29, have been implored to remain calm.
The strike, the union said, is not aimed at destroying the students’ future, but securing it.
In a statement by ASUU, UI chapter, on June 25, the union said: “We regret to inform you (the students) that the government has once again, demonstrated its characteristics indifference to the deplorable conditions of higher education. Consequently, ASUU National had no other option than to declare a total and indefinite strike until Federal Government accedes to an agreement, which was duly negotiated between ASUU and the Government from December 2006 to December 2008. We wish to assure you that this decision was taken reluctantly in the bid to avert the total collapse of the universities and to ensure a secure future for our students.”
While appealing for the students’ understanding and cooperation in the struggle, the statement reminded them that the little gains witnessed in the universities today, were due to the struggles of past generations of students and lecturers and as such should not count themselves victims of the current situation.
It specifically informed that the indefinite strike would be carried out as follows: no lectures, no practicals, no seminar or project supervision, no oral defense, and finally no examinations, adding that the premier institution’s body of ASUU has decided to comply fully with the directive of the national body.
The university is currently empty as students pack their belongings for their homes in droves.

abrahamprecious@yahoo.co