The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Samson Ayokunle, has said the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may have been averted, if the union had not “disrespected” religious leaders who were engaging with relevant authorities to end it’s impasse with government.

Speaking at the CAN’s first quarter 2022 meeting in Abuja on Monday with the theme, ‘Education for Peace and Nation Building’, Ayokunle said the religious leaders had quietly stepped down their intervention to allow the lecturers do what they seemed was best for them.

“I am not pleased enough with ASUU because they are impatient. I, Co-Chairman and others went to plead with them. Instead of them to be patient with us to know how far we had gone in our efforts, they went ahead on strike while our intervention was going on. To me, that was not respectful enough and that was the reason we left them,” he said.

Rev. Ayokunle, who is the Co-Chairman, Nigeria Inter Religious Council (NIREC), also raised concern over the Federal Government’s poor attitude to critical national issues and the mistrust generated as a result of their actions.

He, however, stressed the need to find a solution to the ongoing strike to ensure the students of public universities return for academic activities in school.

The CAN President said: “For how long can we continue to allow the impasse between ASUU and the government to  continue. Our children are the ones suffering for it and our future because our future are the children. How can they be playing with the future of these children like this?

“At times the government also does not allow us to believe that they don’t have the money. It was at that time they were saying there was no money to answer ASUU that the government went and donated $1millon to Afghanistan. When you have your our Afghanistan here at home you have not taken care of and you are donating to another one  who will believe you that you don’t have money?

READ ALSO: ASUU strike: NANS takes protest to streets, highways

“We need to take a drastic decision about this impasse between ASUU and the Federal Government which is running in months now without any solution at sight.”

Speaking further, Ayokunle, who warned youths not to allow politicians recruit them as thugs, enjoined religious leaders to always advise their members to vote for intergrity and character at the 2023 general election rather than names and political parties to help move country forward.

He added: “I want to plead with us to appeal to our wards not to allow politicians use them as thugs. The season of recruiting our people from the churches and mosques as thugs has come again. We need to please advise them not to avail themselves to be used for such dirty assignments.

“We should intensify prayers both in the mosque and churches for a better leadership in 2023.

“As religious leaders we should advise our members not to vote names, political parties, but vote Intergrity and character. This is what will give us a task oriented leadership that will move our nation forward.”

Speaking at the event, the Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, who appealed to NIREC not to deter from its desire to see the ongoing strike called off, commended the Council for engaging with President Muhammadu Buhari and ASUU twice to resolve the impasse so normalcy could return to the nation’s public university system.

Mustapha, who was represented by the OSGF Permanent Secretary, Maurice Mbaeri, maintained that with the various situations that keep arising in the country, there was need to deepen political and religious collaborations to build a country free from prejudice, intolerance, violence and other vices.

“I want to charge the leadership of NIREC to continue in this path to appeal to ASUU to call off the strike in the interest of a safe and prosperous nation.

“The education of our children is very vital and need to continually keep them in school is key to molding them into great leaders of tomorrow. We need to continue to teach them to have a sound and healthy mind so they can stay away from heinous crime and violence, which we are experiencing today in this country,” the SGF said.

On his part, the Sultan of Sokoto and President, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, who raised concerns over the blood letting in the country and other parts of the world, said religious leaders have a role in ensuring peace and stability.

“We have so many problems in Nigeria and the rest of the world. We are all concerned as religious leaders because innocent lives are being lost by the activities of bandits and terrorists in Nigeria. We have to always speak against violence,” the Sultan of Sokoto said.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of NIREC, Prof. Cornelius Omonokhua, noted that a functional educational system was imperative to building a healthy society free of the various forms of conflicts.

He added that no religion forbids education in arts, science or technology.

Omonokhua said: “If the youths are well trained and formed  they will be conscious of human rights. They will resist those who employ them to fight unjustly for the selfish benefits of those who finance and promote violence. They will know that peace is a virtue that is deeply entrenched in Christianity and Islam.

“For the youths to promote the dignity of life, they need dialogue at all levels and in all ramification. At the end, the well educated person with a reasonable job would promote nation building because he has something to look up to.”

The Star