24-HOUR ULTIMATUM TO THE ONDO STATE GOVERNMENT TO INTERVENE AND ENSURE THE IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION OF THE ASUU STRIKE
His Excellency,
Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa
Executive Governor,
Ondo State.
Your Excellency,
We write with deep concern over the continued industrial action affecting students in the state-owned universities of Ondo State, particularly Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), and Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH).
The prolonged strike has had a devastating impact on thousands of students whose academic activities, examinations, graduation plans and future prospects have been placed on hold.
The Federal Government has made commitments towards addressing the welfare and interests of academic and non-academic staff within the university system. Following the resolution of the national-level ASUU strike, we believe that similar urgency must now be demonstrated in resolving the situation affecting students in Ondo State.
Your Excellency, NANS Ondo JCC has consistently chosen dialogue, consultation and diplomatic engagement since the commencement of this industrial action. We have engaged relevant stakeholders because we believe that constructive dialogue remains the most responsible path towards resolving the crisis.
However, we can no longer continue to watch helplessly while the education and future of Ondo State students remain suspended.
It is therefore on this basis that we issue a 24-hour ultimatum to the Ondo State Government to urgently intervene and take concrete steps towards bringing the ongoing industrial action to an immediate end.
We particularly draw attention to the fact that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not the only union currently participating in the industrial action. The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have also joined the industrial action, further deepening the disruption to academic and administrative activities across our universities.
Your Excellency, we sincerely prefer dialogue to confrontation and peaceful engagement to protest. However, if within 24 hours of the receipt of this letter there is no clear and satisfactory intervention towards resolving the strike, NANS Ondo JCC will be compelled to mobilise students peacefully and massively to the streets of Akure to demand the immediate restoration of academic activities and the protection of our fundamental right to education.
This is not a threat to the government. It is a firm and peaceful expression of the frustration of thousands of students whose academic journeys have been unnecessarily disrupted.
We urge Your Excellency to consider the enormous consequences of further prolonging this crisis and to use the authority and resources of the State Government to urgently bring all relevant stakeholders to the negotiating table.
The students of Ondo State deserve to return to their classrooms.
They deserve certainty about their academic future.
They deserve a government that will act when their future is at stake.
We trust that Your Excellency will act swiftly and decisively in the interest of Ondo State students.
We remain committed to peaceful engagement, constructive dialogue and every legitimate avenue necessary to secure the immediate resumption of academic activities in our universities.
24 hours is all we ask for action.
The future of our students cannot wait.
Yours faithfully,
Comr. Adekanye Mayomi Adeboye
Chairman
NANS Ondo State Joint Campus Council
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