Trusted EDUCATION Content!
Students of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri and Imo State University, IMSU Owerri barricaded ever-busy Assumpta Cathedral road in Owerri Imo State was on Friday May 27, 2022.
The students were protesting the ongoing impasse between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The protest commenced around 11:00 pm with students blocking the highway around Imo International Conference Centre, IICC, creating a gridlock within and outward Owerri.
The action of the students left many motorists and travellers stranded.
The students carried placards with inscriptions such as “We must graduate, #End ASUU strike now#”, FG Save our education and save our lives “ We say no to educational stagnancy.”
“We are tired of deadlock meetings” and education should not be this difficult.”
Speaking at the protest ground, Chairman of the Federal University Technology Owerri (FUTO) branch of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Nwokeji Uchenna, appealed to the federal government to respond urgently to the yearnings of ASUU.
Nwokeji who appealed to the students to conduct themselves in a peaceful manner said ASUU has been clamouring since the commencement of the strike that something be done with immediate effect but that the federal government has refused to listen.
“We are pleading with the FG, the Governors and other stakeholders to please do the needful, Nigeria doesn’t need this.
“The FG should as a matter of urgency call up the strike, and pay allowances owed to ASUU since 2012. Nigeria as a country has enough money to solve the problem.
“Everyday EFCC goes about arresting youth because they don’t want them to go into fraud but when you frustrate them out of school, you don’t blame them for their actions.”
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Comrade Ejike Praisegod, a student of FUTO and the Deputy Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Southeast said if nothing is being down Nigeria students will be at home for the next 6 months.
”This strike is causing a lot of harm for the Nigerian student. We can no longer bear the brunt of the feud between ASUU and the Federal Government.
”FG has to understand the fact that Nigerian students will always be at the receiving end. Our students are suffering, our students are fed up. This whole issue is getting out of hand.
”We call for a well-established resolution for the benefit of the students.”
Support EDUGIST to give education a VOICE in Africa
Education journalism has become highly important in today’s world and the need to sustain it has become highly recommended. Hence, accuracy, originality, readability and dependability becomes a must. Without adequate resources, dependability may not be able to stand the test of time.
To be relevant is to keep meeting the needs of the readers. Help us stay relevant by donating to our course. With as little as $10/N5000, you can support us in ensuring that we keep publishing accurate, original, readable and dependable educational contents for your views.
About the author
Akeem Alao
Akeem Alao trained as a language teacher. He graduated from Adeniran Ogunsanya college of Education where he studied English/Yoruba Languages and Ekiti State University where he obtained a degree in English Education.
