The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has threatened to sue President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration over its violation of poor children’s rights to education and equal protection.
ASUU has been on strike for close to five months to press home its demands.
The striking lecturers’ demands include funding for the revitalisation of public universities, Earned Academic Allowances, use of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and promotion arrears.
ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke said they were yet to hear from the government, after meeting with Prof. Nimi Briggs’ renegotiation committee.
The committee is expected to review the draft proposed 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and renegotiate with all the striking unions.
Since April 2022, the Briggs renegotiation committee has been meeting with the unions to address the thorny issues in the 2009 agreement.
However, SERAP on Friday in a post on its verified Twitter handle asserted that the ASUU strike which has kept poor children at home while the children of Nigeria’s politicians attend private schools, is a crime against humanity.
The post reads, “The ASUU strike which has kept poor children at home while the children of Nigeria’s politicians attend private schools, is a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.
“We’re suing the Buhari administration over its violation of poor children’s rights to education and equal protection.”
A civil society, Save Public Education Campaign, earlier called on the striking university lecturers, students and parents across the country, to get ready for mass actions to compel the Nigerian government to take necessary steps to end the strike action of the university lecturers.
The group also called for immediate payment of all withheld salaries of the striking academic lecturers and unions across the country.
The group berated Buhari’s government for wasting humongous amounts of money and resources on political parties’ nomination forms and primaries.
It lambasted the government for taking politics as a priority while relegating the issues of education and the future of Nigerian children to the background.
Bello described the action of the government toward the plight of the lecturers which bordered on issues of poor welfare as ridiculous, absurd and unacceptable.
She lamented the time lost by the students in public universities across the country which she said amounted to an entire two and half years under the Buhari government. Continue Reading
