After almost five months at home, lecturers and students of public universities in the Southeast have said they are ready to resume classes if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions end their strikes. Nwanosike Onu, Awka, Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki, Chris Njoku, Owerri, Damian Duruiheoma, Enugu, and Emma Elekwa, Onitsha report.
The possible reopening of public universities has gladdened the hearts of students in the Southeast. The students said they couldn’t wait to resume classes in their campuses.
But, the traders on the campuses and some students lamented that their businesses had suffered greatly for lack of patronage.
After almost five months at home, the students may soon return to the classrooms, if words from the Federal Government and striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are anything to go by. For the first time, both sides seem to be giving children of the poor a ray of hope.
I can’t afford to wait any longer, says student
A student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, John Amah, in an interview with our correspondent, expressed joy over the development, saying he could not afford to wait any longer.
“For me, it’s a welcome development. Though I didn’t expect the strike to last this long. If the strike is called off, I would be glad. I can’t wait to return to school,” he said.
Another student, Chisom Obi, said the students were ready to return to school anytime the strike was called off.
“I hope it is called off soon. We are ready to return to school. It has not been easy staying at home when you should be in school.
“I was in my lodge last week and it was very boring as there was no one else there. I was in town for a programme. Despite the loneliness, I really enjoyed being back to the school environment,” she said.
Another student, Chisom Obi, said the students were ready to return to school anytime the strike was called off.
Alex Ekwueme Federal University, ASUU Branch, said the strike had hit hard on its members as they had not been paid salaries for five months.
The union, however, said its members remained resolute to continue the strike until all their demands were addressed.
ASUU Chairman: we are ready to return to the classroom
Chairman of ASUU in the university Egwu Ogugua, who stated this in an interview with The Nation, noted that the lecturers were ready to return to the classroom once the issues were properly addressed by the Federal Government.
“As I am speaking to you now, I am about travelling. But if I get a call now that an agreement has been reached and the strike called off, I will suspend the journey and mobilise members back to the classroom immediately.”
Some students, who were doing business around the school environment, called on the Federal Government to heed the demands of ASUU in bringing an end to the industrial action.
Some business owners and commercial transport workers like Elom Cynthia, Abraham Chinonso, and Igbe Chisom lamented that the strike had adversely affected their daily income since there was low patronage from the few students around the campus.
The Students’ Union Government (SUG) President, Comrade Jerry Okafor, expressed dissatisfaction over the strike. He wondered why strikes had become an annual occurrence in tertiary institutions in the country.
Immediate past Chairman of ASUU, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, said they were yet to receive directive from their national leadership to resume work.
He urged federal and state governments to place premium on education at all levels, as well as provide adequate funding for the sector.
“As our Comrade President said a few days ago, if government does the needful, the union will meet to review the situation and take appropriate actions,” Aribodor said.
‘We are expecting directive from ASUU’
FUTO -ASUU Chairman Chinedu Ihiejirika said the parent body had not directed the university chapters to resume, and, until then, they would not sheath the sword.
He, however, said the lecturers at the university were ready to resume lectures at the shortest notice.
A student, Addison Iwu, urged the government and the lecturers to reach a truce as quickly as possible to save the education sector. “We are not happy over this ugly development,” he said.
UNN lecturers, others: it’ll be end of our misery
The University of Nigeria (UNN) lecturers have pledged to resume academic activities as soon as they get directives from the leadership of the ASUU.
This is also as some students and businessmen on campuses said the end of the ongoing ASUU strike would be an end to misery in their lives.
Speaking with The Nation, the lecturers said although they had been conducting researches from their homes, the strike had prevented them from lecturing and interfacing with students.
A student, Emmanuel Usor, expressed readiness to resume school as soon as the strike was over.
Usor, who is in second year, lamented that the students were more at the receiving end.
“The end of this strike will be an end to our misery. I gained admission in 2019, and in 2020, we stopped school because of COVID-19, and in 2021, we were rushed into second year to enable fresh students come in. Since 2021, we have been facing strike.
“I should have been in my final year now and ready to defend my project and to be mobilised for NYSC. But here I am still in second year. So, when I say that the biggest losers of the strike are the students, I know what I’m saying.
“The students suffer in the sense that the studies they are supposed to conclude in four years are extended. So, their time is wasted,” he said.
A business centre owner on the campus, Oluchukwu Ani, lamented that her business had suffered a serious setback as a result of the strike.
According to her, for more than four months, her business had not witnessed patronage as students hardly visited the school to perform any activities.
“So, ending this strike will mean ending part of my problems. I will be happy to see my business back again,” she said.
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