Matthew Kukah, Catholic bishop of Sokoto diocese, has
criticised stakeholders over the failure to address issues which have prolonged
the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He said this on Wednesday in his address during the signing
of the peace accord by governorship candidates in Osun.
The ongoing strike by ASUU, which was declared over the
federal government’s failure to address the union’s demands on salaries and
allowances of lecturers, as well as issues around funding of universities, has
been on for more than four months.
President Muhammadu Buhari had recently asked the union to
take into account the plight of students and reconsider its stance on the
strike, but ASUU had said the federal government needs to do its part to
address issues that led to the strike.
Speaking on the industrial action, Kukah described the
ongoing strike as a “tragedy”, adding that keeping students out of universities
will have a negative impact on the country’s democracy.
“For us in Nigeria, the university students who count in
millions can be classified as out-of-school children. This is unacceptable,
especially as I said, that these things are happening in a democracy,” he said.
“Democracy has always given us an opportunity for
negotiation, consensus and so on. And it is a tragedy. The chairman of INEC is
himself a professor; a lot of the election results are being announced by
professors. It is, therefore, not acceptable that after so many months, our
universities are still closed.
“We must understand
that without the universities given opportunities for academic energy and
analyses and theorising, it’s impossible for our democracy to grow.
“So, the most important thing therefore for political actors
— and I’m speaking not only for the people of Osun, I’m also speaking to the
political actors in Nigeria — that it is time for us to take our
responsibilities sufficiently seriously.”
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