House of Reps aspirant Urges End To Lingering ASUU Strike
Mr Akachukwu Maduakolam, an aspirant for Ihiala Federal Constituency Seat in the National Assembly has expressed worry over the ongoing strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other unions in the Universities.
Maduakolam who is contesting for the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told Journalists in Awka on Sunday that the interruptions in the academic calendar of institutions of higher learning caused by the strike was good in the long term interest of the country..
He said the shutdown of the nation’s higher institutions had assumed an embarrassing dimension and called on the Federal Government to address the demands of the lecturers with the aim of bringing it to an end while calling on the university teachers to consider a middle course in the negotiations.
“The reality on ground is that affluent parents and guardians are taking their children out of the country to pursue their higher education but what happens to the students whose parents can not afford such luxury.
“The issues that normally degenerate to industrial actions in the universities and other high institutions should be addressed once and for all. Constant interruptions in teaching and learning is not good for the system.
“We should also be conscious of the fact that when a man becomes idle, he becomes a workshop for the devil.
“When students who are supposed to be in school are pushed into the streets because of the failure of the government to pay the necessary attention to the education sector, then danger is looming.” he said.
Barr Maduakolam said the strike was putting pressure on families and youths themselves that some of them were now going into crime and criminality especially where there are no alternative positive activities they could engage themselves in.
According to him, the security implications of allowing youths who are supposed to be in school to roam the streets is better imagined than real.
He appealed to all the stakeholders in the educational sector to work together so as to give the needed equilibrium to the sector.
