Students under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), on Wednesday, blocked a major highway in Ogun State, in protest against the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The protesting students blocked the Lagos- Abeokuta expressway from the Obada end of the highway, singing anti-government solidarity songs
Many motorists travelling inbound and outbound were caught up in the protest which lasted for hours.
Some of the inscriptions on their placards read: “End ASUU Strike now”, “Enough is Enough”, “Nigerian Students are suffering” and “FG listen to ASUU”.
The NANS chairman in the state, Comrade Kehinde Simeon, urged both the federal government and ASUU to reach an agreement in resolving all issues surrounding the action.
He noted that the extension of the strike for three months would further worsen the state of insecurity in the country.
“It is so unfortunate that the Federal government is playing politics with the lives of Nigerian students. We have been clamouring from time past ever since the commencement of this ASUU strike that something should be done with immediate effect, but it is obvious that both the Federal government and ASUU have decided to turn deaf ears to our agitations.
“It is so evident that none of the children of these politicians, government officials and by extension, ASUU is here in Nigeria schooling because if they are children as students are being affected, the way it affects every other Nigerian, they would have resolved this issue a long time ago when it started.
“And it is obvious that ASUU on the other is not genuine with their struggle because they have to know that Nigerian students will always be at the receiving end at the end of the day. We have come out to solidarize with ASUU on many occasions since the commencement of this strike and we expect them to be considerate.
“Our students are suffering, our students are fed up. This whole issue is getting out of hand and before it gets to a point of students and youths taking to anarchy they should find a lasting solution to this issue, enough is enough.
“Our students are going to end up engaging themselves in criminal activities as we all know that an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.
“Since our students are not in school, a lot of them will have no choice but to start engaging in criminal activities, ranging from prostitution to internet fraud and others.
“We want the Federal government to know that they are about to unleash the beast in us because when you fail to do the needful, they should remember the case of Somalia, they should remember the case of Rwanda, they should remember Liberia before it gets to a point whereby we start hunting these politicians and ASUU, they should please do the needful and call off the strike. The Federal government should listen and ASUU on the other hand should try to be reasonable so that our students can return to classrooms,” the student leader said.
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