The ongoing strike by university lecturers across the country has drawn a reaction from the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) towards a statement made by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari, through his media aide Garba Shehu, urged the striking lecturers to consider the future generation and return to work. He was quoted as saying, “We hope that ASUU will sympathize with the people on the prolonged strike. Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at home. Don’t hurt the next generation, for goodness sake.”
In response, Dr. Gbolahan Bolarin, the Chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Minna, accused Buhari of attempting to play a psychological game.
In a statement, the ASUU Chairman expressed disappointment with Buhari’s lack of understanding regarding the union’s struggle, despite being vocal about it before assuming office. The statement further suggested that the president’s advisors were not providing him with accurate information on the matter.
“The president was trying so hard to play a psychological game by bringing students (next generation) into the statement, forgetting that the lecturers, like any other common Nigerian, have their kids and wards in public universities but his kids are/were not/never in public universities.”
“Unfortunately, the government, after six months of keeping the students at home due to its poor handling of the strike issues, is just realizing that they are parents when their children do not even know what the gates of public universities in the country look like.”
“There is no need to paint ASUU’s struggle in such coloration because we all know that the political class hardly cares about the rest of us because they only believe the students are good for political thuggery.”
The ASUU chairperson also cautioned the presidential spokesperson and other government officials against politicizing the issues faced by ASUU. He expressed disappointment with the portrayal of the union’s demands and stressed the need for concrete action to achieve a permanent resolution.