If the Association of Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike action continues, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), South-South zone has threatened to close major infrastructures in the region, including the Calabar Itu highway and the Port Harcourt International Airport.
This information was released over the weekend during a news conference in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State, by the South-South Coordinator, NANS ZONE B, Kings Tamarapreye.
NANS encouraged ASUU to follow the court’s order and end the strike, which has been in effect for eight months, and urged the federal government to agree to ASUU’s requests because students are the ones who suffer the most.
If NANS demands are not taken into consideration, Tamarapreye said, their upcoming action might be “worse than the EndSARS demonstration.”
The statement read in parts, “As the leadership of NANS ZONE B, we wish to restate our total commitment towards the return of Nigerian students to the various campuses.
“We give a vote of confidence to comrade Usman Barambu-led administration for a job Weldon in bridging the gap between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“We reaffirm our total stand by calling the body to honour the order of reopening the institutions as we equally call on the federal government to as a matter of urgency subscribe to the demands of ASUU.
“It is on record that in this particular Zone (NANS Zone B, South-South), we have led several forms of protest to see how we can return students to school because the main reason we were elected leaders is to prioritize the welfare of the students.
“It is a sad thing that for eight months now, Nigerian students are still at home. It is on record that we have blocked the roads of Akwa Ibom and the Cross River States in solidarity.
“There was a memo for the mobilization of the nation shut down and it is still on course. As we are appealing to ASUU to listen to the court order and return to school, if they fail, we will mobilize and shut down the whole country because the federal government has been so nonchalant to education in this country.
“We all know that education in this country is underfunded and we will not fold our arms, it is time we take our destinies into our hands. In this South-South region, we are going to block the Portharcourt International airport, block Calabar-Itu highway as well as other infrastructures.”
