NANS Vows Nationwide Shutdown as ASUU Threatens Fresh Strike

By: Aremu Toyeebaht

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has issued a stern warning that it will cripple the country’s critical infrastructure if the Federal Government fails to urgently resolve its lingering face-off with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The threat follows ASUU’s renewed warning of a possible nationwide strike over government’s alleged failure to honour agreements.

Speaking in Abuja on Monday, NANS Assistant General Secretary, Emmanuel Adejuwon, said Nigerian students would not sit by while their future was jeopardised by recurring strikes.

“Let it be on record: if this strike is not averted, we will bring the country to a standstill until the future of Nigerian students is secured. The time for games is over. The Federal Government must act now. ASUU must act responsibly. And Nigerian students will not sit idle while our future is wasted,” Adejuwon declared.

He further vowed that NANS would “mobilise Nigerian students for massive nationwide protests that will shut down roads, airports, government offices, and critical infrastructure.”

According to him, the impact of strikes is always borne by children of ordinary Nigerians.
“This strike must not be allowed to happen. It is obvious that strike actions only inflict pain and suffering on the children of ordinary Nigerians, the masses who struggle day and night to keep their children in school. The politicians and government officials whose failures created this crisis are not affected; their children are comfortably schooling abroad or in expensive private universities. If the children of these politicians were in our public institutions, this issue would have been resolved immediately,” he said.

Adejuwon accused the government of “endless promises and insincerity,” stressing that students were tired of being casualties of failed leadership.
“We demand that the Federal Government, without delay, meet its obligations to ASUU and resolve all outstanding issues. Enough of the endless promises, excuses, and insincerity. Nigerian students are tired of being victims of leadership irresponsibility,” he said.

While calling on government to act swiftly, the student leader also urged ASUU to rethink its frequent resort to strikes.
“At the same time, we call on ASUU leadership to reconsider the weaponisation of strike as the only tool of engagement. Every strike action destroys our academic calendar, elongates our years in school, and diminishes the quality of our education. The lecturers must understand that their struggle, no matter how just, should not become a weapon against the same students they claim to fight for,” he added.

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