Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement ‘Enough is Enough’ over the continuous strike by the ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) has prompted a response from the union.
While speaking through a statement given by Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant, President Buhari was quoted as stating, “Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at the house.”
While reaching the comment, Prof. Emmanuel Osekede, President of ASUU, said that he found it difficult to understand the President’s statement when the union is not the reason for the delay in students going back to school.
He added that the federal government had sent its team to bargain with us, and we had finished. Rather than coming back to us to inform us of the results of the meeting, we get to hear such comments.
He added that if you set up a committee to negotiate that too on your behalf, and the committee has ended, and they have brought the report to you to sign, and then you stated enough is enough, what does this suggest?
Furthermore, Dr Adelaja Odukoya, ASUU Zonal Coordinator, Lagos, in a statement, related the five-month-long strike to the federal government’s negligence in solving the problems of the union.
The statement of the President enough is enough is merely wishful thinking and will not solve the present decadence in our universities. It will also not halt the current struggle to reposition our public universities.
Prof. Emmanuel Osekede further added that for the records, Mr President, enough will not be enough in the effort to reposition the public university education in Nigeria under this current administration and beyond as long as the Nigerian public universities are lessened to glorified secondary schools for the production of poor quality and worldwide uncompetitive, rejected and unemployable graduates and Nigerian academics stays one of the most inferior paid scholars in the world.
“For the records, Mr President, enough will not be enough in the struggle to reposition the public university education in Nigeria under this present administration and beyond as long as the Nigerian public universities are reduced to a glorified secondary schools for the production of poor quality and globally uncompetitive, rejected and unemployable graduates and Nigerian academics remain one of the poorest paid scholars not only in Africa but the world.”
