ASUU seeks elders’ intervention in ending strike
The University of Ilorin (Unilorin) branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged well-intentioned Nigerian politicians to act quickly to mediate the continuing labour conflict between the union and the Federal Government.
The union's chairman, Prof. Moyosore Ajao, made the request while taking questions from reporters in Ilorin. He also urged organisations to become involved in the protracted issue.
In the benefit of innocent youngsters and their parents, Ajao claimed he was requesting the interventions in order to put an end to the strike.
In the interest of the country, he declared, it was past time for traditional leaders, elder statesmen, and religious figures from all backgrounds to intervene in the ongoing scandal.
The union's leadership, according to the professor of anatomy, was not opposed to the interventions of people whose opinions would be acknowledged by the federal government.
He emphasised that those distinguished men and women were unable to stay oblivious to the tragic circumstance that had caused pupils to miss several months of their respective classes.
Ajao argued that the employers who pretended to be unaware of the union's demands before and soon after the strike started pressured his union into taking the action.
“Members of the union, like other well-meaning patriots, are equally not happy with the strike and its effects because they are also parents and guardians with children and wards studying in the nation’s ivory towers,” he said.
He added that the decision of the union to embark on the strike was targeted at preserving the nation’s university system, which is currently being afflicted with brain drain and deterioration of enabling infrastructures.