From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Emmanuel Osodeke, on Thursday lamented over the rate at which lecturers are moving out of Nigeria even as he said the ongoing strike will persist till the federal government of Nigeria accede to their demands.
He spoke at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun State during ASUU congress.
Osodeke who appealed to the students to endure stated that they are making sacrifices for the coming generation to have basic amenities in school and access to quality education.
“The affected students are making sacrifices for development in the schools so that future generations can benefit. For anything to develop some people will make sacrifices, you will agree with me that Nigerian universities are on the verge of collapsing. This struggle is not just for them but the future generations.
“A large number of lecturers have moved out not because they hate this country but because of the way they are being treated. There’s no country in the world where their academics will go on strike and you think the best weapon to use is to seize their salary. When we were on strike, lecturers in the UK went on strike, and it didn’t take two days for them to resolve it. Ghanaian lecturers went on strike and they resolved it,” Osodeke added.
He said the Nigerian government refused to resolve ASUU strike because “their children are not here.”