Students of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAD) have protested the ongoing strike embarked on by the Academic Staff union of Universities (ASUU). The students complained that they were not given the opportunity to study after they resumed back on campus. They called on the local chapter of ASUU to back out of the strike.
It would be recalled that the school was closed down because of the activities of the Boko Haram sect some four months ago. However, the students were asked to resume for their first semester exams after which they went for a week break. Two days after resumption, ASUU went on a warning strike and the UNIMAID chapter of the union joined the strike.
A source told CAMPUSLIFE that the management of university resolved to meet with ASUU to decide whether UNIMAID would join the strike or not. “However, during the university senate meeting before the indefinite strike, it was rumoured, by a group of students that the university is making plans to embark on the strike . This particular group of students, rushed to the hostels and started chanting solidarity songs calling on their colleagues to join in the demonstration and fight against the strike,” the source said.
A final year student of Biological Sciences, who pleaded anonymity, said he was in his room when he heard the chants of solidarity songs. “I came out and saw students chanting ‘no strike, no strike’, some carrying placards. I entered my room, put on my trousers and joined in the demonstration.”
The students marched to notable places in the school, calling on their colleagues to join the demonstration. They said the strike was to the detriment of their career. The students blocked the entrances into the institution.
When the news of the demonstration got the authority, the management immediately announced that the institution had backed out of the strike.
The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. M M Daura, addressed the demonstrating students, confirming that the school had backed out.
The shout of victory rented the air and the students dropped the tree branches they were holding. They signaled other students positioned at the university to return to their hostels. A graduating student who spoke on the condition of anonymity said: “It is good that we fight against the strike.
The strike might not be too bad for other universities but certainly not for UNIMAID. We are at loss here and the academic calendar of the school has been seriously distorted. We were supposed to graduate this December but now, we are not even sure when we will graduate. This is why we fought against the strike.”
by Taiwo Isola (The Nation)
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