ASUU Strike: Reactions Trail Nigerian Students Seeking Admission Abroad

The continuous strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria is already forcing Nigerian students to seek admission overseas in order to further their education.

Speaking to AN24TV, Nigerian parents as well as students expressed dissatisfaction in the manner in which the Federal Government is handling the situation over the past seven months, adding that it is a misplaced priority on the part of the Federal Government.

Some people are of the view that parents who can afford foreign studies for their children should not hesitate to do so, adding that it is their fundamental human right and doing so will avoid jeopardizing the future of their children studying in Nigeria.

They also considered the striking actions over the years as part of the problems of an unworkable and dysfunctional system because Nigeria being the giant of Africa is rich enough to provide the funds requested by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Speaking on the implications of the situation, they added that if the Federal Government fails to curtail the situation, there is going to be more crisis in the nation which will affect the 2023 presidential election because “some of the students would be used by politicians to disrupt the forthcoming elections.”

As the strike requires a matter of urgency, they urge the government to look into the situation as soon as possible so that the children can return to school.

Meanwhile, it was reported that a 200-level student at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Akwa, Anambra State, who gave his name only as Kamso said he decided to seek admission to a university in the United Kingdom due to the lingering ASUU strike.

Although this year’s strike was the first he had encountered as an undergraduate, it was also the defining moment that spurred the decision of an overseas education for him.

Kamso also ruled out returning to Nigeria to seek education, expressing excitement about schooling abroad.

According to him, “It’s going to feel great and exciting. Everything there is different, easy and better than the ones in Nigeria. The two are incomparable.’’

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It would be recalled that since 1999, ASUU has embarked on strikes 16 times with the last few days being three in 2006. The 1999 strike which lasted for five months was to protest against the poor working conditions of its members. Again in 2001 and 2008, the union embarked on a three-month and one-week strike respectively over the reinstatement of 49 lecturers sacked at a University of Ilorin. Poor funding of universities and non-implementation of previous agreements were major reasons for the strikes. These reasons provoked the strikes witnessed in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Following the 2009 agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU to re-negotiate in 2011, the union embarked on strike to protest the non-implementation of the agreement.

Consequently, the incessant strikes have fuelled the exodus of students in universities to seek admission to universities abroad.

The 2018 data from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) also indicated that about 76,338 Nigerians were studying abroad.