*Their struggle is to secure the collapsing university system, Guarantee education of our Youths*
*Journalists should remain ethical, side with the oppressed*
Disappointed by federal government’s deceitful, insincerity and transparent lack of commitment to resolve the protracted impasse between her and the striking university lecturers, over 90% of members of Ahmadu University branch of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have urged the union’s National Executive Council to declare Total and Indefinite strike action.
All members of the Union who spoke during the union’s highly and unprecedentedly attended congress meeting on Tuesday concurred that embarking on total and indefinite strike action by the Union was the only and sure option left for her to press home her demands.
The Comrades described government’s belligerent attitude towards ASUU and lack of readiness to implement the renegotiated agreement recommended by her own Committee as declaration of war not only on ASUU, but on the entire education sector and the country’s future, whose development solely depends on education.
The speakers lamented that it is unfortunate that despite the glaring and wicked attempts by the government through its officials, who, without iota of shame, have not hidden their intentions to destroy the nation’s university system, as demonstrated in their recently adopted competition-like shameless habit of sending their children, majority of whom are less intelligent and morally corrupt, compared to the children of the masses, who they are trying to deprive university education, to expensive foreign universities, with government resources, and who, on graduation, are given exclusively preserved juicy appointments in the most lucrative government sectors such as moribund NNPC, CBN, FIRS and their subsidiaries; some ignorant or selfish parents and students are busy supporting the government, instead of siding with the Union to fight for the liberation of university education as the only way to help children of the downtrodden have access to the ivory towers, now and in the future.
The University lecturers also appealed to journalists who are supposed to be vanguards, agenda setters and leaders in any fight or struggle to emancipate or liberate mankind from the shackles of oppression and injustice as demonstrated by precursors of journalism, to always remain ethical in the discharge of their watchdog functions and as conscience of the society.
The ASUU Comrades appealed to the gentlemen and ladies of the noble media profession, who, by virtue of their training as fellow researchers, to dig into how universities in other parts of the world are run by governments and how lecturers are treated in those countries, with the view of educating both the government and Nigerians on what they all need to do to ensure survival of the all- important-education sector in general, and University education in particular.
By Waziri Isa Adam