Ondo students set 14-day deadline for Aiyedatiwa over ASUU strike

Students of state-owned universities in Ondo State have given Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa a 14-day ultimatum to resolve the ongoing strike by university workers’ unions.

The students, under the National Association of Nigerian Students Joint Campus Committee (NANSJCC), Ondo State chapter, issued the ultimatum in Akure during a press briefing after suspending an earlier planned protest.

The state NANSJCC Chairman, Comrade Mayomi Adeboye, explained that the protest was suspended following the intervention of the NANS National President and appeals from representatives of the state government.

The students, however, warned that they would take further action if the government failed to address the dispute and bring the prolonged industrial action to an end within the 14-day period.

The strike involves members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and other university-based unions.

Adeboye said the governor had reached out to the NANS leadership, assuring them that steps were being taken to address the demands of the striking workers.

He said the NANS National President subsequently urged the students to give the government two weeks to resolve the crisis.

“The NANS National President urged us to give the government a two-week ultimatum. If after two weeks the strike is not called off, we should return to the streets,” Adeboye said.

He lamented that although the lecturers and non-teaching staff were the ones owed, students were bearing the brunt of the industrial action.

“We are not here to make war. But our students are suffering. We have been home for too long.

“There are denied opportunities. I have a brother who lost a $67,000 scholarship because schools are not in session,” he said.

Adeboye said Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, had been on strike for more than two months, while the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, had been shut for one month.

He warned that NANS would direct its structures nationwide to relocate to Ondo State and “shut down the state” if the government failed to resolve the dispute within two weeks.

Also speaking, President of the AAUA Students’ Union, Folagbade Greetness, described the situation as “unbearable.”

“We are paying school fees and preparing for exams only for the strike to happen. This is getting too much. By next week, we will no longer accept pleas. It’s enough is enough,” she said.

The President of the UNIMED Students’ Union, Adekunle Samuel, said the students agreed to the two-week window in good faith.

“We have shown government that when we want to act, we will. We can’t take it any longer. If nothing is done in two weeks, we will be back to demonstrate until students return to class,” he said.

The students appealed to Aiyedatiwa to prioritise their welfare and resolve the dispute to prevent further disruption of the academic calendar.

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