Nigerian students whose universities have been shuttered since February 14, 2022, have blocked the Lagos-Ibadan expressway to express their displeasure with the lingering ASUU strike.
The students under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students, South-West Zone, trooped out on Tuesday, September 13 2022, to block the Shagamu Interchange section of the expressway.
The protesting students said the Federal Government was failing in its promises to revamp education.
In a statement released at the protest ground, the student said, “There is no point arguing about who is at fault or what is to be done, it is very clear that the rulers underfund education and the Buhari government is failing in its promises to revamp education.
“As it is today, no higher institution in Nigeria is world-class! Yet, our so-called public servants travel all over the world spending billions to send their kids abroad for studies.
“As major stakeholders in the educational sector, we are the ones who can save ourselves. We have monitored the yearnings of students from campus to campus through their social media platforms and also in their public writings. Students all over Nigeria stand with ASUU. Our lecturers suffer the same hardships and mal-developments we suffer. The staff houses are as bad as the students’ hostels. In South Africa, a professor’s laboratory is far more equipped than that of any university in Nigeria.
“History has been killed and undermined, so we the youths, do not know where we are coming from not to talk of knowing where we are headed. But we will not lament anymore. The new leadership of NANS is here to work with students to achieve our set aims and objectives. We believe that the student movement has its place in history. It is a task that we vow to fulfill. We will never let Nigerian students down.
“We call on ASUU leadership for a meeting as as soon as possible to discuss solidarity actions and plan for the next phase of the struggles.
“We pass a vote of no confidence on both Ministers of Labour and Education; We call for the proper funding of the educational sector as against what has been attainable in the past seven years; We Call on the Buhari government to pay all outstanding arrears and salaries of the lecturers. The policy of “No Work No Pay” is a fascist one, it’s therefore, condemnable and nonacceptable to all the millions of students in Nigeria.”
The students said if their demands are not meant, they would mobile and shut down the Presidential Villa.
