The National Association of Nigerian Students, a coalition of 40.1 million students is calling on the minister of education Mal. Adamu Adamu to negotiate the demands of striking lecturers that have shut down teaching activities in public universities for more than 80 days.

Sign this petition to get the education minister to end the impasse with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU to get students back to their universities.

What has happened

NANS held her Non-Elective National Congress where we concluded to protest the incessant and lingering strike and call on Federal Government to do everything humanly possible to pacify ASUU and ensure the strike is immediately called off. Nigerian students across the country and the zones acted in unison on February 28, 2022 to demand an immediate end to the ASUU strike and call on the FG to take responsibility. 

Our first meeting with the Minister of Education was tense, ended abruptly, because of our very radical stance which was necessitated by the untold hardship we have suffered from these incessant strikes and lack of adequate commitment to the development of the tertiary education system in the country. While the Minister of Education stormed out of the meeting. However, with the intervention of  several stakeholders, and the unreserved apology of the Minister of Education, a new meeting was reconvened at the Conference Hall of the NUC where the Minister of Education was also present.

The Minister apologized to NANS and the entire student populace for the prior misunderstanding, sympathized with Nigerian students for the avoidable situation and the strike. The Minister restated the shock of the Federal Government over the decision of ASUU to go on strike as there is an ongoing negotiation between ASUU and the Federal Government. The Minister agreed with the demand of NANS for students to be represented in the negotiation for balancing of interests while also pledging to do everything possible to ensure the strike is called off on or before the expiration of the one-month warning strike which is now in its third week.

The Minister explained that some of the items in the 2009 agreement with ASUU are not realistic and un-implementable and ASUU has been duly informed, hence the constitution of the renegotiation committee to review the agreement and do everything possible to reach a new agreement acceptable to parties. According to him, the implementable document which has been drafted and submitted to the government will be signed by Federal Government and ASUU to put a permanent end to ASUU strike.

Way forward

While we await the resolution of the meeting between the FG and ASUU, here are our demand:

1. The Federal Government to intensify negotiations towards ending the ongoing strike.
2. We want the Federal Government to make public the state of implementation of the 2009 FG/ASUU agreement.
3. To have students representative in every negotiation between FG and ASUU as the issues are triangular and students must be duly represented for the balance of interests.

We have informed the Minister that we shall react louder and bigger across the 36 States and the FCT should the government fail to find a permanent solution to issues of ASUU strike.

We thank Nigerian students for standing tall, united, motivated, and in solidarity as we fight this to a reasonable conclusion. We thank security agencies and members of the 4th and 5th estate of the realm for their cooperation.

We, therefore, call on the students to be prepared for a complete showdown if FG and ASUU fail to resolve their impasse and call off the strike on or before the end of the one-month warning strike which is now in its third month.