The
National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has stated that it no longer
supports the now over two months Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
strike action.
This was
stated by NANS national president, Yinka Gbadebo, on Wednesday at a press
conference in Lagos.
According
to Gbadebo, as much as ASUU’s demands seemed justifiable, it is the students
who are suffering the consequences of the strike the most, while the lecturers
have little or no consequences to suffer.
He urged
ASUU leadership and members to accept the funds the Federal Government had
already disbursed to the various universities in the country and resume
academic activities, while negotiations with government on the full
implementation of the union’s demands was being made.
Gbadebo
further said that NANS had no moral obligation to support the struggles of
ASUU, as it was on no record that the lecturers had ever supported any
students’ struggles in the past, such as “unjust” school increment and the
likes.
He
charged ASUU to device other ways of getting its demands met like taking the
Federal Government to the court.
“I
believe that they can get an injunction compelling the Federal Government to
implement the agreement, if the court finds it meritorious,”he said.
He
further said that the lecturers were more concerned about boosting their
allowances.
“ASUU
is deceiving us, they are fighting for their pockets,” Gbadebo declared.
He also
debunked a news report posted in an online newspaper that the NANS president
had been impeached, waving it off as mere blackmail attempts.
