Students beg FG, ASUU to agree, end strike

Some students of the University of Jos have appealed to the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities to find a common ground toward ending the incessant strikes in the universities.

They made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Jos.

NAN reports that ASUU had on Monday declared a one-month warning strike to drive home their demands, just after it suspended its nine-month-old strike in December last year.

ASUU had claimed that the Federal Government was yet to honour the agreement it reached with it since 2009.

The students called on the duo to return to the negotiating table with a view to finding a lasting solution to the issue.

Miss Edlyn Pam, a 400-level student of Mass Communication in the institution, decried that the incessant strikes had constituted a stumbling block to her academic journey.

Pam, who said that the strikes by ASUU had delayed her graduation, added that it had affected the academic calendar of public universities in the country.

“Ordinarily, by now I should have graduated, but for the numerous strikes by ASUU, I’m still here.

“I have spent six years pursuing a course I should have completed in four years; I’m not even sure when I’m going to graduate.

“By the time I will be graduating, I may be above 30 years old and will not be eligible to go for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

“So, I’m pleading with the Federal Government and ASUU to reach a sincere agreement so as to safe the future of university education in the country,” she appealed.

Another student, Kwaptoe Fred, said that both the ASUU and the Federal Government should be sensitive to the plights of students.

He called on both parties to sheathe their swords for the interest of future generations, which he said is currently bleak because of frequent strikes by lecturers.

“To me, the demands of ASUU are genuine, but their approach to the whole thing sometimes looks wrong.

“If truly an agreement is reached between it and ASUU, such an agreement should be honoured to the letter.

“They say that when two elephants fight, the ground becomes the victims; the students, in this case, are the victims.

“So, we are appealing to both the ASUU and the Federal Government to return to the negotiating table and find a common ground for the sake of future generations,” Fred appealed.

(NAN)