…. pledges to intervene in the prolonged strike
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has met with the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and pledged to intervene in the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Mr Tinubu and his running mate, Kashim Shettima, met with the leadership of the student body on Thursday in Ososgbo, Osun State.
In a video posted on Twitter by an APC member, Segun Dada, Mr Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, said he was planning to use a back channel to intervene in the industrial action by the university lecturers.
He said he decided to intervene following a recent comment by President Muhammadu Buhari on the strike.
“We were trying to find—even if it is back door, a way of reaching them. I am assuring you, we are not going to use back door because our leader too— Buhari has shown his lamentation in the last 48hours and as a result of that, he has left the door open for our intervention,” Mr Tinubu said.
ASUU had embarked on strike on February 14 to demand the adoption of UTAS as a payment platform for its members and the implementation of the renegotiated 2009 agreement.
Mr Buhari, on Tuesday, while meeting with some governors of the APC, legislators and political leaders at his residence in Daura, Katsina State, said the lingering industrial action will have “generational consequences on families, the educational system and future development of the country.”
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the president”called on all well-meaning Nigerians, particularly those close to the leaders and members of the association, to intervene in persuading the lecturers to reconsider their position, and the ripple effect on an entire generation and the nation.”
