As life returns to many universities after the New Year break, some lecturers have pledged to put in extra efforts to make up for the time lost during the recent protracted strike.
Life returned to many of the nation’s public universities on Monday.
Besides, resumption of normal academic work, business activities also picked up in many of the institutions.
Lecturers in public universities embarked on an indefinite strike under the aegis of ASUU on July 1, 2013.
The strike suspended on December 17, lasted for 169 days.
The University of Lagos-ASUU Chairman, Dr. Oghenekaro Ogbinaka, promised that members of the union would make sacrifices to make up for lost time. He spoke to News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos.
Ogbinaka said the union was satisfied with steps the government recently took to ensure that the country’s university system was on the same pedestal with those of many other countries.
He said UNILAG lecturers would ensure that areas that suffered during the strike were covered qualitatively.
He urged students to work hard to make up for the lost time.
According to him, the Federal Government has demonstrated willingness to create a conducive teaching and learning environment in public universities.
He said it was necessary for lecturers and students to play their respective roles well.
“The government, as part of its efforts to encourage us, has paid all our salary arrears; we are indeed happy with the development.
“The same government has set up a NEEDS Assessment Committee in public universities with members of other labour unions in the system well represented.
“With the development, we are optimistic that we shall be seeing a system that will be able to compete favourably with its counterparts in other climes.’
“Given this development, we see a situation where, not only students, lecturers and parents will be happy, but where the entire country will be better,” Ogbinaka, said.
Normal academic activities also resumed at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in Ogbomoso, Oyo State.
The LAUTECH-ASUU Chairman, Dr Oyebamiji Oyegoke, told NAN that he was happy the school had reopened.
He said all hands must be on deck to avert disruption in whatever form on campus because it would be inimical to the students’ study.
Oyegoke stressed the need for both lecturers and students to be up and doing,
“We have to hit the ground running because of the limited time,’’ he said.
The Deputy Dean of Students’ Affairs, Dr Babatunde Lawal, also said that the resumption was the best gift of the New Year.
He urged the lecturers and students to work extra hard to cover the lost ground.
The Students’ Union President, Mr. Ayorinde Rufus, commended the management of the institution for the prompt resumption of students after the strike.
At the University of Port Harcourt, its spokesman, Dr Williams Wodi, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the school reopened on Sunday to enable its students to resume lectures.
He, however, said the university had no plans to speed up lectures in order to cover any lost time in the 2013/2014 academic session.
Wodi said, “The National Universities Commission stipulates the number of credit hours every student must cover to be eligible to write examinations. We are going to cover 36 credit hours per week, as stipulated by NUC, and there is no compromise about that. We are going to lecture until we finish the second semester.
“We were on strike for 169 days, and so, no university will be allowed to cut corners as clearly stated by the NUC. Students should return to classes because normal lectures are on. Some lecturers are threatening to set tests (to punish students who fail to resume).
A post-graduate student of the university, Mr. Vitalis Sekibo, expressed fears that a rush to conclude lectures to meet the university’s academic calendar would have negative effects on students.
Students of the Enugu State University of Technology started returning for lectures on Monday, four days after the institution resumed for studies.
The school resumed on January 2.
Our correspondent, however, observed that the commencement of lectures in many of its faculties were skeletal, as most of the lecturers shunned the school, due to a dispute they have with the school authorities.
At UNILAG, academic and commercial activities returned fully to the university.
Many of the students were seen embracing one another and discussing the suspension of the strike.
Though many of the lectures held, some of the lecturers did not turn up for classes.
Meanwhile, a 200-level Mechanical Engineering student, who identified himself as Ganiyu, said a lecture they had on Monday could not hold because the lecturer had travelled abroad.
He regretted the period wasted on the industrial action and urged ASUU to ensure that the strike was meaningful by making sure that there is proper implementation of the funds released by the Federal Government.
Fatumise Ruth, a 200-level Biology Education student, noted that she had received two lectures as of the time of speaking to one of our correspondents.
Demola Okeniyi, a 300-level student of Law said, “I went for a class today. We were prepared for it. In fact, the lecturer threatened to give us a test because the participation level was just so low.”
Business operators on campus also witnessed a boost in trade. One of them, who did not want her name in print, bemoaned the low level of patronage during the strike. She however noted that life returned to her business on Monday.
Meanwhile, Komolafe Oluwafemi, a 200-level Biochemistry student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, said he was neither excited nor sad about returning to school because the strike already meant he would spend more years before graduation.
“I am simply indifferent about returning to school. While I am glad that I am returning to continue with my education, I am also sad to realise that I have a longer time to stay. I had already envisaged graduating by 2015, which might no longer be possible.”
For Bamidele Christopher, a third-year student of the Department of Continuing Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, it was a great moment of joy to return to school. Bamidele, whose family stay in Suleja, Niger state, lamented that during the protracted strike, he accompanied his father, a civil engineer, to construction sites almost every day.
“I am happy to return to school now – very happy in deed. During the strike, I initially applied to teach in one of the schools in my area but the conditions of work were not favourable. But by going with my father to work, I think I learnt a great deal of construction processes which made the strike slightly profitable to me,” Bamidele explained.
