Skip to main content

COVID-19: Varsity workers warn against re-opening

…There‘ll be consequences —ASUU

…We  won’t go back until… — Non-teaching staff

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & James Ogunnaike

The Academic  and non-academic staff  in the nation’s university education, yesterday, warned that there would be dire consequences if the Federal Government went ahead to reopen the ivory tower closed following to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, warned the federal government to be ready for negative consequences of reopening the tertiary institutions, the Non-teaching staff described it as dangerous,  plan to re-open universities, arguing that it would  lead to higher number of cases of the COVID-19 pandemic not only on campus but also the host communities.

ASUU, speaking through its Coordinator, Lagos Zone, Prof Olusiji Sowande, at a briefing after a meeting at Olabisi Onababjo University, Ago-Iwoye, insisted that reopening of tertiary institutions without addressing issues in the universities would be suicidal.

According to him, “presently, hostel accommodations are inadequate, no facility on ground to carry out physical distancing in large crowded classes, water and electricity supply are not reliable. Reopening tertiary institutions without taking concrete steps to address these issues would be suicidal.

“While government made arrangements for special bailout funds for airline operators and other private entities, no such arrangement was made for public universities. Therefore, government should be ready to take responsibility for any possible negative consequences after reopening of universities”.

Claiming that it was not enough to have the students back on campuses, Sowande said that the atmosphere and conditions must also be right.

He lamented that years of neglect of both education and health sectors in the country had resulted in inadequate infrastructure and lack of well equipped diagnostic, testing, treatment and research laboratories in both sectors.

READ ALSO: Only FG can stop looming strike, SSANU warns

On the ongoing strike by ASUU,  Sowande said ASUU had written relevant agencies with the hope that steps would be taken to put an end to the strike,  alleging “It seems that some government officials are benefiting from the prevailing situation.”

He added that ASUU demanded that the Accountant-General of the Federation must immediately remit all illegally withheld check-offs, and other third party deductions with accrued interest.”

On its part, Chairman of the Joint Action Committee, JAC, of the non academic staff comprising of Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institutions, NASU,  and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, Samson Ugwoke, said members would not resume until the coast was cleared.

Ugwoke, who is President of SSANU, said even if the government decided to reopen universities, the two university based unions would not resume work until all their demands were settled by the government.

According to him,  “Government is not ready. The offices, the hostels and the university campuses are not ready,  the campuses are overtaken by bushes/grasses. And again, you cannot resume now because we have overcrowded situation, the facilities cannot accommodate the figures.

“Now that we are talking about physical distancing, students do stand outside and take lectures from the windows, crowding on top of tables to take lectures and now no additional infrastructure to support physical distancing.   Therefore, government is not ready unless they want to send them back to school to die. There will be massive infection and transmission if the students are sent back to school under this condition.

“Above all, some of these students make up the population of the catchment community because a lot of them are living off campus and they mingle with the people in the community. You can get students in the hostels and off campus staying six in a room. So, sending them there is like sending a cow to abattoir for slaughter.”

Vanguard

The post COVID-19: Varsity workers warn against re-opening appeared first on Vanguard News.


by Nwafor via Vanguard News https://ift.tt/3jxHNam Best Known Member of the Cabinet Wikipedia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UPDATED: Nigeria’s coronavirus cases reach 1,728, fatalities 51

  By David Royal The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 196 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,728. NCDC also announced that seven more fatalities were recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 51. The NCDC, in a tweet at about 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, said the 196 new cases reported were; 87-Lagos, 24-Kano, 18-Gombe, 17-Kaduna, 16-FCT, 10-Katsina, 8-Sokoto, 7-Edo, 6-Borno, 1-Yobe, 1-Ebonyi, 1-Adamawa. The virus has spread to 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Yobe, according to NCDC report, is the most recent state to record COVID-19 case in the country. According to the agency, Nigeria now has 1,370 active cases recorded as of 11:55 p.m. on April 29, while 307 infected persons have been treated and discharged, with 51 deaths recorded. READ ALSO: US says remdesivir shows ‘clear-cut’ effect in treating coronavirus “On the 29th of April 2020, 196 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mayhem: How we secured Surulere from hoodlums — Lagos youth leader

#EndSARS protesters A youth leader in Surulere, Lagos, Mr Adedeji Adeoti, has narrated how young people in the area secured the community from attack by hoodlums during the recent EndSARS protest. Adeoti told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday that the concerned youths had to safeguard the community because “it’s our heritage. “During the crises, we had to mobilise the youths to come out to protect the streets and its environs from the hoodlums, “We had to come out to safeguard our neighborhood from miscreants because our aged parents and loved ones are all at home and needed protection. “We had to mobilise youths in the neighborhood to chase away the hoodlums and miscreants who hijacked the peaceful protest,” said Adeoti, who’s President, Adelabu Youths Vanguard. READ ALSO: ENDSARS: Ogun Judicial Panel of Investigation receives 20 petitions in 2 weeks He urged the government to give the youth the chance to speak up and make demands for a better life and secu...
Post a Comment
Read more

COVID-19: Kano overtakes FCT with total confirmed cases, records 80 in 24 hours

By David Royal Kano state on Thursday overtook the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with total confirmed cases of COVID-19 after recording 80 cases in 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 219, while Abuja has a total of 178. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Thursday, announced that 204 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 1932. NCDC also announced that seven more fatalities were recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 58. The NCDC, in a tweet at about 11:50 p.m. on Thursday, said of the 204 new cases,   80 were recorded in Kano state, 45-Lagos, 12-Gombe, 9-Bauchi, 9-Sokoto, 7-Borno, 7-Edo, 6-Rivers, 6-Ogun, 4-FCT, 4-Akwa Ibom, 4-Bayelsa, 3-Kaduna, 2-Oyo, 2-Delta, 2-Nasarawa, 1-Ondo, 1-Kebbi. Thursday’s 204 new cases are the highest reported in a day since the outbreak of the pandemic in February. READ ALSO: COVID-19:...
Post a Comment
Read more