The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has described the recent declaration of indefinite strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as “educational terrorism and economic sabotage”.

NANS said the decision was not only unpatriotic, unnecessary but wicked and only serves the interest of lecturers who are on a mission to collapse university education in Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement made available to journalists on Thursday by the NANS President, Sunday Asefon.

Asefon stated: “The declaration of the indefinite strike after virtually all ASUU demands had been met must be considered an act of educational terrorism and economic sabotage, government must act fast and be ruthless in dealing with anyone found culpable to serve as deterrence to others who might want to hold the nation at ransom and perpetuate systemic terror attack on the nation.

“We have taken the time to review the decision of ASUU to declare an indefinite strike after the ongoing six-month strike. We consider the decision not only unpatriotic, unnecessary but wicked and definitely not in the interest of our nation nor the tertiary education system in Nigeria.

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“Events of recent weeks have therefore made it abundantly clear that ASUU has an ulterior motive which is to collapse university education system in Nigeria and systematically promote Private Universities where many of them have their children, stakes and perhaps where they receive payment for the job of collapsing public universities in Nigeria.”

The NANS President further called on the Federal Government to implement its no-work no-pay policy on the striking lecturers as provided for in the law.

He also called on state governments to liaise with vice chancellors of their universities to reopen for academic activities.

“We call on the State Government to forthwith liaise with Vice-Chancellors of state institutions to announce the resumption of academic activities and grant the Vice-Chancellors authority to enforce the resumption as state universities should never have joined the strike in the first place.

“We, therefore, plead with ASUU leadership in state institutions that had been so ridiculed and labeled quarks by the National President of ASUU to toe the path of honour and save their institutions from the verge of total collapse by calling off the strike,” Asefon added.

The Star