MANAGEMENT
MUST MEET THE DEMANDS OF LECTURERS AND REOPEN THE UNIVERSITY
PRESS
STATEMENT
We of the Education
Rights Campaign (ERC) condemn in strong terms the repression of protests of the
University of Abuja students held on 16th June, 2014 by security
operatives and the subsequent forceful closure of the two campuses of the
university. The students had turned out in large number to agitate for the
resolution of the crisis between the management and of the university chapter
of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) so as to allow the conduct of examinations.
The ASUU branch of
the university has commenced an indefinite strike action since June 2nd,
2014.The strike action is to protest the alleged misappropriation of funds allocated
to the institution by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor James Adelabu. ASUU UNIABUJA is also alleging that the
Vice-Chancellor deliberately refused to pay their teaching, marking,
supervision and professional allowances dating back to 2010! To add insults to
injury, he has also refused and
neglected to pay the check-off dues of the union to them since May 2013!It is
also calling for the release of the White Paper of the Visitation Panel of
government to the university.
The attack on the
fundamental rights of the students of UNIABUJA
who hit the streets to call for end of the crisis in the university is
unwarranted. It is altogether part of the deliberate and systematic
militarisation of the country by the current Jonathan regime and attack on the
democratic rights of the working people with impunity.
We call on the UNIABUJA
management to meet the demands of the lecturers in order for the university to resume
for students to sit for the examinations.
The ERC also calls
for coordinated national mass actions of Nigerian students to resist the wave
of fee hike as in OAU, LASU, UNIPORT and TASUED as well as solidarity protests
in support of the protracted strike action of ASUP and COEASU and attacks on
democratic rights as was the case in UNIABUJA.
HT
Soweto
National
Coordinator, ERC
07033697259
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