The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Monday kicked off a nationwide protest against the continued strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The association said the strike would continue until the lecturers return to the classrooms, saying the disruption of academic activities on the campuses of both the state and federal universities has negatively impacted them.
It was gathered that the protest which was led by the NANS president, Sunday Asefon, began at the Unity Fountain in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and ended at the federal ministry of education,
The students were carrying placards with various inscriptions such as “End ASUU Strike Permanently Now,” “After Strike Government Officials Get Paid, Who Pays Nigerian Students for Time Wasted,” ‘Employment Comes with Age Limits,” “Age is Irreversible,” among others.
It was gathered that the Minister of Education later came out to address the students. However, after a few questions by the students, who were led by the NANS President, Comrade Sunday Asefon, the minister angrily left for his office.
Commenting on the development, Asefon said: ”We only asked the minister one or two questions about what the government is doing to resolve the impasse when he angrily left us and went inside. ”We are surprised at the development because as students, we are the ones bearing the brunt of the strike. We are going to hold a meeting to deliberate on the next step to take and we will get back to you.”
Addressing the students, Mr Asefon said the protest will continue on Tuesday at the venue of the ASUU-government conciliation meeting.
He said the students will not yield until the government and the striking lecturers reach an agreement and call off the strike.
The protest was also held simultaneously in other Nigerian cities including Kano and Ilorin on Monday.
The students also took to Twitter to express their grievances with the hashtag; #EndASUUStrikePermanentlyNow.
