ASUU strike reflective of Buhari administration’s failure, claims rights group

•Dons fault decision
The National Coordinator of Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Hassan Taiwo Soweto, has decried the strike action embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of  Universities, saying, painfully, that it was coming under a government that two years ago claimed to have solutions to the myriad of problems besetting the country and her citizenry.

He said: “This strike classifies the abysmal failure of the Buhari government, especially where it concerns matters of public education. We will hold the administration responsible if this industrial action lasts longer than expected. We will not tolerate a situation whereby Nigerian students will now be made to waste away at home over an issue that could easily be resolved if the government is sincere enough.

“We put the blame on the government and we urge the Buhari-Osinbajo government to quickly and speedily find means of resolving the strike so that academic activities can resume soonest.”

Meanwhile, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Oye Ibidapo-Obe, has faulted the exercise, saying: “I don’t think strike is something we should go into now, as the country is in real problem. To me, it doesn’t show us as people who care for this country.

“Nigeria is already in the depth and with the strike, we are going to get deeper. Yes, the government is not doing as much as we expect, but going on strike will worsen Nigeria’s situation. Already, our children are having unemployment issues due to poor training.”

Also, the Vice Chancellor of Redeemers University, Ede, Osun State, Prof. Debo Adeyewa, urged the union to look inward in resolving the issues rather than embarking on strike.

“The strike will further implicate the very system they are trying to protect in terms of quality and sustenance of an unbroken academic calendar. All over the world, if they are going to rank a university, and that university was on strike for six or three months, the ranking will sink even if you have every other thing.”