The Coalition of 19 Northern states’ presidents of the Students Union Government (SUG) Tuesday issued a one-week ultimatum to both the Nigerian government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resolve their face-off or it takes to the streets in protest.
They stated this at a press conference in Kano while making public the outcome of an earlier meeting of the coalition in Jigawa state.
Addressing the conference on behalf of the coalition, Sadi Garba Sa’id of the Bayero University Kano said: “The coalition has unanimously agreed on the review of the ASUU demands. The coalition is giving both parties ultimatum of one week to resolve themselves or else we the Nigerian students will move to the roads and make them our classes.”
The student leaders further warned they would not accept any increase in registration fees, just as it called on the government to waive the fees because of the pandemic-induced economic hardship.
“The coalition will not tolerate any form of hike in registration fees or the induction of tuition fees. The government should waive registration because of the pandemic which has seriously affected the economic status of students, parents and guardians,” they declared.
They also called for a review of the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) age limit as the lingering ASUU strike might have affected the chances of some of the students to participate in the scheme.
“NYSC age limitation should be revised owing to the fact that the lingering ASUU strike and COVID-19 pandemic may have crippled some students’ chances of participating in the scheme,” they demanded.
The coalition further condemned the alarming rate of rape and kidnapping across the country and therefore called for a prompt action by government.
While demanding that priority attention be given to education in the country, the coalition called on the government to also provide quality education in primary and secondary schools.
They similarly called for the introduction of skill acquisition and internship programmes to the students of tertiary institutions across Nigeria, even as they urged transparency in respect of federal and state scholarship schemes.
