ASUU Strike Update: Six Painful Months of Delay for Nigerian Students

 

Under President Muhammadu Buhari's leadership, the ongoing strikes by ASUU have cost undergraduate students in universities all over the nation at least 13 months of their academic year. Education experts claim that this explains why Nigeria's state colleges produce subpar work and why degrees from those institutions are not highly respected abroad.

Read Latest Update: Nigerian Government wants to disband ASUU

ASUU's strike in public institutions has already lasted six months with no sign of it ending anytime soon. ASUU announced this strike on February 14, 2022, to try and force the federal government to fulfill its unmet demands. Sadly, our government does not seem to send anybody, and like play like play, TIME IS GOINGGG!!

The union had extended the strike from one month to two months as of February 14. ASUU has also met with representatives of the government, but every dialogue comes to an impasse before it is finished.

What the ASUU People Are Saying

According to ASUU Lagos Zone Coordinator, Dr. Adelaja Odukoya, “We are not on strike to count days and months. Our focus is the struggle despite the imposed pains on us by government. For us, days are mere numbers on the calendar. Like time, a day is duration of consciousness.
“Thus, for us it is not how long, but the achievement of our objectives. That is, getting government to live up to its responsibilities to the Nigerian youths and public education in the country by being faithful to agreement entered into with our union."

The number of ASUU's industrial activities has seriously gotten out of hand. Records demonstrate that during the nation's troubled educational history, university instructors have gone on strike every other year. University instructors in Nigeria went on strike in 1981, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019, among other years. They took a break from work in 2020 for nine months, or almost one full academic year and three months less than a full year. University teachers have been on strike for six months, commencing on February 14, 2022, and they are still on strike. ASUU thought otherwise if you believed that February 14—Valentine's Day—should not be a day for any act of hatred.

What Can Nigerian Students Do?

Unfortunately, this ASUU strike problem is a problem of two elephants that are fighting. When two elephants fight, it is the ground that suffers for it. And honestly, it is not fair.

Some students have japa-ed, and a very small fraction of students have moved to private universities, because they can afford it. But what happens to those that cannot afford that luxury? God help us.

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