Middle Belt group, Young Parliamentarians want urgent end to ASUU strike
As the standoff between the federal government and the academic staff Union of universities continues and the ASUU strike enters its seventh month, several groups and individuals have continued to add their voices to the call for a quick end to the strike.
The latest being a prominent Islamic Scholar in Kano State, Abdulwahab Gadon-Kaya, The Young Parliamentarians Forum, and the Middle Belt Movement for Justice and Peace, MBMJP.
Speaking yesterday, The Middle Belt Movement for Justice and Peace, MBMJP, urged the federal government to quickly resolve its dispute with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, before it becomes another reason for protests by the youths.
The group cautioned that Nigerian students were already getting agitated after losing a session to the strike by university lecturers lamenting that the failure of the government to resolve the dispute had become a source of worry for most Nigerians.
Convener of MBMJP, Comrade Joe Bukka who made the call yesterday in Makurdi decried the continued closure of Nigerian Universities regretting that the lingering dispute was making a mockery of the Nigerian University system.
According to Bukka, “we cannot continue to have our Universities closed for several months because of a dispute that can be easily resolved, it is shameful.
“My fear is that our students have become worried and agitated over this continued closure of the schools given that they have already lost one session to the strike.
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“I plead with the federal government to resolve this matter quickly so that it does not become another reason for a protest by the youths.
“Honestly I never believed that the government would allow the strike to linger considering what we just experienced with the ENDSARS protests. I appeal to the government to quickly reach an agreement with the striking lecturers to save our university system and also assuage our agitated students,” he added.
Incessant Strikes have dented educational progression – YPF
Also adding their voice, The Young Parliamentarians Forum called on the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities to expedite action to end the lingering universities teachers strike.
YPF which is a group of young men and women representing various constituencies in the National Assembly also urged the Federal Government to institute a long-term strategy to mitigate incessant strikes in government universities.
In a communique issued in Abuja on Friday at the end of its strategy meeting, the Forum said its call became imperative because incessant strikes by university teachers had over the years dented educational progression and national development.
It said: “The Forum frowns at the continued strike by ASUU and the deprivation of youths to education. YPF commits to engaging the budget process to ensure adequate and effective budgetary allocation to education to improve its quality and conditions of learning for students for enhanced leadership development.
“We commend the Executive arm of government for the N75 billion youth development funds, but it must ensure that policies geared towards job creation and economic development that are more holistic, properly targeted, and needs specific are put in place.”
It said this should include transparent allocation of youth development funds and accountability to ensure that young Nigerians were the true beneficiaries. It also commended the Federal Government for declaring November 1 every year as the National Youth Day.
The Forum called on all tiers of government to declare a decade for youth development beginning from 2021 with clear short-term and long-term plans, given the deplorable socio-economic condition of youths in Nigeria.
It called on the leadership of the National Assembly to increase its support for the YPF and to ensure that more young parliamentarians were assigned to special committees such as the Constitution Review Committee.
The Forum expressed concerns at the lack of cohesion in the implementation of activities aimed at the development of youths in Nigeria.
It reiterated its commitment to ensuring that the National Assembly expedited legislative action on the passage of the National Youth Development Commission Bill, which provides a holistic approach for addressing youth development.
It called on legislators at the national and state levels to expand legislative oversight to the implementation of legislation enacted by parliament and not to restrict such function to projects executed by the Executive arm of government.
The communiqué was signed by Kabir Tukura and Dr. Simon Elisha, Chairman, and Secretary respectively.
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