ASUU Strike: Shutting Down Of Private Varsities By NANS Not The Best Option – Babcock University VC

NANS1The threat by National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, to shut down private universities in the country over the lingering strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been faulted by President and Vice Chancellor (VC) of Babcock Private University in Nigeria, Prof. James Makinde, who has appealed to the students to have a rethink.

Makinde, who warned that the threat if carried out has the potential to negatively affect the educational sector, made the plea at a Press Conference in Akure, the Ondo State Capital, shortly after the Western Union of Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Nigeria elected its new leaders.

The VC noted that though private and public tertiary institutions serve the same purposes, the rules guiding both were different.

According to Prof. Makinde, the constitution of Nigeria permits any individual or group to establish schools, students in private institutions do not belong to NANS.

Information Nigeria recalled that NANS, at a rally recently in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, to protest the over two months strike action that has kept students of government owned varsities at home, threatened to shut down all private universities in the country to show its frustration with the face-off between the Federal Government and ASUU.

But the Babcock Vice Chancellor in his reaction said, “it is highly ridiculous because I have never seen in Nigeria that because NITEL is owned by the government, and shut down, Nigerians will begin to call for the closure of MTN, Glo, Airtel or others owned by the private sector. For this, I don’t know why students will now embark on a protest to shut down private universities because ASUU is on strike.

“We are not against the action of the ASUU and we also feel for the students and, that is why we are appealing to the government to find a lasting solution to this issue of strike. But we insist that shutting down of private universities is not the best option to end the issue of strike in Nigerian tertiary institutions”, he stated.

4 COMMENTS

  1. To the best of my knowledge, I think the people who are in possesion of the solutions to ASUU’s problem dont have their wards studying in Nigeria. And if they do there are all in Private Varsities. Therefore, they do not know or care to know what the poor parents whose wards are in public universities faces. When ever there is a Face-Up in the public institutions, they quietly transfer their wards to Private institutions if not abroad leaving the vunerable ones to rot in public varsities. Atleast if NANS have the potentials to hold to hostage also students from Private institutions, they should go ahead and do it so that if the whole institutions in the country are down, there will be a speedy resolution between Federal Government and ASUU

  2. Shutting down private universities will speed up government decision on this matter, they are doing what they are doing now because 95 percent of their wards are in this private universities, come into the street and see what the strike is causing…. Why would you sign and agreement you know you won’t meet, must politics be played in everything?, if this agreement reached was attended to since 2009 do you think there will be strike… Honestly the federal government want to destroy d future of the youth