January 18: Students will Fight against Postponement

January 18: Students will Fight against Postponement —NANS

The National Association of Nigerian Students, on Wednesday, said students all over the country will fight against any postponement to the January 18 earlier date scheduled for the resumption of schools

NANS President, Sunday Asefon, stated this in a telephone interview with an online news outlet.

According to him, the academic environment is more orderly and it makes it possible for the enforcement of all COVID-19 protocols including social distancing, use of face masks, and regular handwashing

He said the students’ body had ordered its chapters in all tertiary institutions to set up COVID-19 task force teams to enforce all guidelines outlined by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and ensure safe reopening of schools

Asefon said, “We want schools to resume on January 18. Schools are regimented environments and people will follow COVID-19 protocols more in schools than in their houses where there is no organisation. Schools are well-structured and lecturers will enforce social distancing and wearing of face masks in classes. It is strategic.

“We will fight against any further postponement. We have our way of doing things and we will make it known that we are against it.”

The news had earlier reported that the PTF, on Tuesday, said schools in the country will resume on January 18 until the Ministry of Education announces further directive

Students of public universities have been at home since March 2020 when the Academic Staff Union of Universities began a nine-month-long strike over certain demands. The union, however, conditionally suspended the industrial action on December 24, 2020, after a lot of foot-dragging by lecturers and the Federal Government

Yet, when students were hopeful of returning to classrooms, the country entered the second wave of the pandemic while the PTF subsequently ordered schools to remain closed till January 18 to contain the spike in COVID-19 infections in Nigeria

ASUU has since insisted that it is not safe for lecturers and students to return to classrooms as it cannot guarantee social distancing in crowded classes and congested hostels

The PTF is expected to hold a briefing on Thursday and Nigerian students are waiting to know the position of the government

Comments

ASUU to FG: Varsities will be Shut Down Again Over Non-payment of Salaries

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has threatened to resume its suspended strike over non-payment of salaries and alleged victimisation of members. The chairman, University of Ibadan branch of ASUU, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, in a statement on Sunday asked Nigerians to blame the Federal Government if universities are shut down again. Akinwole decried that despite agreeing to ASUU’s condition before the strike was suspended on December 24, 2020, many lecturers are still being owed salaries of between two and 10 months ASUU had called off its nine-month strike after the FG agreed to its conditions. However, within two weeks of the conditional suspension of the nine-month strike embarked upon by ASUU, the Federal Government reportedly flouted the agreements. It was learnt that as of December 31, 2020, the Federal Government had failed to fulfil three agreements reached with the union. Among the agreements, FG failed to fulfil was the payment of the lecturers six months salaries, inclu...

Exam Malpractice: WAEC gets tough, cancels Results, bars Candidates from Future Exams

West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has cancelled the entire results of some candidates who sat its 2019 private series and 2020 school-based West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCEs) and also barred them from sitting for its future examinations for a certain number of years. The examination body also banned some schools for life or some years from presenting candidates for its future exams even as it is also planned to formally report all exam officials including supervisors and invigilators with proven cases of malpractice against them during the various exams to their appropriate authorities for sanction. Head of Public Affairs of WAEC, Nigeria, Mr Demianus Ojijeogwu, made this known in a statement, on Monday, without giving statistics nor names of individuals and institutions involved recalls that a total of 215,149 (representing 13. 98 per cent) of 1, 538,445 candidates, who sat the 2020 school-based WASSCE were involved in malpractice according to WAEC’s ...

ASUU Strike: Honourary Doctorate Recipient pleads for ASUU’s ceasefire

An honourary doctorate degree recipient from Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, AE-FUNAI, Ebonyi state, Dr. Anayo Onwuegbu has appealed to lecturers who are members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to sheathe their sword and resume academic activities for the sake of security of the country Onwuegbu said that for the young population of Nigeria to be out of school for nine months posed serious security threat to the country, adding that the parties at the receiving end in the impasse were every Nigerian He said that he had the opportunity of listening to both sides of the argument between the federal government and ASUU and came to a conclusion that ASUU should succumb to their pleas of Nigerians and resume academic activities in the universities for sake of not deteriorating an already bad security situation in Nigeria Onwuegbu made the appeal shortly after his conferment of Doctor of Business Administration (Honoris Causa) at 5th special convoc...

Uniabuja Channel

Search This Blog