Awka
The Anambra State Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, on Thursday, said it is aligning itself with the position of the National Headquarters for the various chapters to prepare for a very strong action to prevail on the Federal Government to resolve the ASUU strike.
Since 14th February, this year, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has been on strike over the Federal Government’s inability to implement its agreement with the ASUU from 2009 till date.
Various meetings and negotiations have failed keeping the industrial action on for about seven months now.
Meanwhile, the National Industrial Court, had in a judgement earlier this week, on the Nigerian government’s interlocutory injunction, stopped ASUU from continuing with the strike until the case was resolved.
Justice Polycarp Hamman, who was on vacation, issued an order directing the Industrial Court president to reassign the case to a different judge.
This ruling was issued shortly after the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) threatened to prevent political campaigns from taking place nationwide until public university students returned to their classes.
Speaking to our correspondent in Awka, the NANS Chairman in Anambra State, Peter Onyenwife said the way the ASUU issue is going, goes to show how the Federal Government takes the issue of education of youths.
He said the position of the NANS headquarters to stop all political campaign, was in good faith to bring an end to the dilemma Nigerian students across the public universities have been subjected to, by the face-off between the Federal Government and ASUU.
“We have been mandated to commence decisive actions across the country to tell the government that we are no longer taking this nonsense and that whatever step government must take to bring the lecturers back to the classrooms, must be done urgently.
“It is only in a nation where the government places no premium on education of the young people that you see this kind of strike.
“NANS has planned to set up a taskforce ahead of the commencement of the campaigns by the 28th of September, 2022, to ensure that no political campaign goes on to press home our demands,” he said.
The Anambra NANS chairman alleged that the Federal Government has not shown any seriousness to address the issues driving the strike action, describing that as terrible.
This he noted, points to the fact that there is no relevance attached to the education of the young people by the present administration.
Onyenwife noted that the negative implication the strike is having on the youths cannot be quantified, saying the NANS is committed to doing whatever is necessary to ensure that the youths return back to school.
“We are not just going to be stopping campaigns, we will also be targeting Federal Government agencies and parastatals as well as prominent persons involved to get the government to listen to the cries of the people.
“Enough is enough.
“Many students are now involved in crime and other social vices because they are idle and many may not even return to the schools after the strike ends.
“When you take the statistics of the crimes committed in the past few months and the involvement of youths in them, you will understand what we are talking about.
“No one is talking about the youths who died of depression and frustration as a result of the scuttling of their plans for a better living and government is not doing anything about it.
“We are tired,” he pointed out.
Onyenwife threatened that the ENDSARS event may be a child’s play compared to what is coming, saying the NANS Anambra state is on standby, waiting for the National Secretariat to give the go-ahead for the commencement of their next level of action to compel the Federal Government to do the needful in resolving the ASUU imbroglio.
