The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said that the Federal Government decided to resume dialogue with the union to get Nigerian youths off the streets during the #EndSARS protest.
This was disclosed by the union’s coordinator in Akure, Olu Olufayo, in a chat with journalists at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) campus Friday.
Olufayo said that students had stayed at home for almost a year, owing to the pandemic; adding that in that period, the government had not sought to dialogue with the union until the #EndSARS protest began.
He added that students in universities in Kwara State had given the government an ultimatum to reopen schools or return to the streets in protest, a threat that “must have scared the government”.
Olufayo quizzed how lecturers were expected to resume classes without been paid, he asked, “If we return to classes, what are we going to do there?”
He continued, stating, “I can’t teach when I don’t have money to feed myself.”
He said, “Our students have stayed at home for too long; they have been at home for almost a year now. Don’t forget we didn’t send them home. We embarked on strike before the advent of coronavirus. Don’t forget #EndSARS protests. It was at that point that the government realised that students should not have been idle.
“So, that must have made the government to ask us to resume negotiation. All through the period coronavirus was strong, we were not called for negotiation. But now, government wants us to return to class and engage the students. If we return to class now, what are we going to do there? I can’t teach when I don’t have money to feed myself.
“Also, during #EndSARS protest, the youths also said they wanted to end bad governance. Students in universities in Kwara State have given the government two weeks ultimatum to resolve issues with ASUU and reopen schools, otherwise they would return to the streets. That must have scared government and they told us to return to the classroom. But how can we resume without being paid?”
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