By; SANI ALIYU, Zaria
The Zonal Coordinator Kano, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Comrade Abdulkadir Muhammad has blamed lack of seriousness on the part of government for the prolonged ongoing ASUU nationwide strike.
He stated this during a town hall meeting on contending issues on ASUU strike, organized by the SSUU/ABU Zaria Branch held at the Assembly Hall on Monday.
Comrade Muhammad said that sadly, the Nigerian government has failed to recognize, respect by deliberately ignoring the FGN/ASUU agreements.
The Zonal Coordinator lamented the manner government is handling issues regarding the ongoing strike embarked upon, five months ago with no concern.
In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, Professor Kabiru Bala said that the ASUU strike has done harm to the socioeconomic development of communities around the universities.
Prof. Kabiru also said, the current insecurity in the country will increase because a lot of students will join the terrorists as well as becoming a drug addicts,
According to him, poverty is the central implication of insecurity in the nation, which needs urgent attention.
The Vice Chancellor decried infrastructure decay in the public universities.
He appealed to government to provide funds to sustain the existing infrastructure at federal universities.
Alhaji Munir Jafaru, Madakin Zazzau and District Head of Bomo in his remarks, said that Nigeria is facing two challenges which are Insecurity and poverty and attitudes must change if they must be overcome.
The traditional ruler said prayers seeking Allah’s forgiveness is what Nigerians should be devote to.
He challenged politicians and people in government to send their children from abroad to enrol in public schools in Nigeria.
He equally advocated for the enactment of a law compelling anybody seeking to contest any political office to send his children to public universities.
Jafaru asked ASUU to look for viable alternatives to strike such as the legal option and prayers.
He equally charged ASUU and the federal government to make compromise in the current renegotiation in the best interest of students and parents.
The meeting called on the traditional rulers, religious bodies and other critical stakeholders to intervene to bring an end to the impasse between ASUU and federal government.
