The National Association of Nigerian Students on Wednesday has promised to sabotage upcoming election campaigns in an effort to force the Federal Government to call an end to the strike.
According to reports, the students organization released a fresh schedule for its nationwide protests.
NANS organized the protests to take place zone by zone, from its Zone A to Zone F, with Abuja serving as the location for the final protest, according to a timetable that was signed by the student body’s “President-Elect,” Usman Barambu, and dated Monday.
The protests, which started in September, will continue until October 11, 2022, when Barambu will take the helm of the “Abuja shutdown.”
NANS is opposing the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ prolonged strike action.
Ojo Olumide, the chairman of the NANS National Taskforce on #EndASUUStrikeNow, spoke at a news conference on Wednesday and reaffirmed the students’ determination to persistent protest until the government comes to an agreement with ASUU.
If the federal government does not reach an agreement with the leadership of ASUU soon, he claims, NANS would continue to shut down all of the country’s public assets, including roads and airports.
He said, “For those misconstruing our struggle, we call on them to see reason with Nigerian Students and join us in the struggle to save public education in the country.
“The leadership of NANS demands a better deal for the education of the Nigerian masses because most of the children of the privileged few now study either overseas or in Private Universities established with our common wealth across the country by the same set of people we entrusted to govern us. This is more reason they will continue to turn deaf ears to the demand by ASUU for improved standards and conditions of learning in our public higher institutions.
“Our blocking of access to public roads and ports is just a warning. If the government fails to conclude all the negotiations and agreement with ASUU within the frame of two weeks, they will witness more protests and rallies all over the country, they will also witness the annoyance, anger, and frustration of Nigerians Students who have been at home for the past Seven months.
“As we promise them that we will not allow any political campaign to hold across the country until we are back to class. This government has pushed so many Nigerians Students into depression. We say enough is enough; we can no longer bear the brunt of this avoidable crisis in our nation’s public ivory towers again.”
