The National Association of Nigerian Students, Joint Campus Committee (JCC) in Ondo State, has threatened to shut down all government activities in the state if the ongoing strike at the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH) in Okitipupa is not called off.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NANS said the strike embarked upon by the members of the Academic Staff Union of universities and Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions of the university has paralyzed both academic and business activities on the campus.
According to the statement, it has also affected the second-semester examination for the 2019/2020 session, which he said should have been started.
The release, signed by Messrs. Akinteye Babatunde, the NANS JCC Chairman and Adekunle Oluwatayo, the NANS Director of Media, gave the state government a seven-day ultimatum to accede to the demands of the university workers or face the wrath of the students.
It read, “It saddened our hearts to receive the news of the ongoing strike by the Academic and Non-Academic Staffs Union of OAUSTECH, Okitipupa, especially coming at a time when the whole planet is consciously trying to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which has, in turn, affected the commencement of the 2nd Semester of 2019/2020 session.
“The ongoing strike whose major impact is on the Nigeria, is a result of the non-payment of salaries of staff members of the institution.
“Education which is the future of the World should be a priority of every government including the Ondo State Government and it’s a shame that payments of subvention funds to state-owned institutions are being defaulted. It shows the high level of the callousness of the Ondo State Government towards education.
“The entire Nigerian Students in the state frown as this act as it further affects their academic calendar and implore the Ondo State Government to call the university management and all other affected staff unions of the institution to resolve and bring an end to the ongoing strike.
“We hereby give the Ondo State Government 7 days from the date of this published date to employ every approach to curb the ongoing strike and return life to academic progression.
“Should the ongoing strike exceed the 7 days ultimatum, the NANS JCC ONDO STATE Secretariat would shut down the entire activities of the region of the state with a massive PROTEST!
“We, in good faith, hope all would be done to curb the strike and all parties resume to work immediately as we won’t back off until our academic progress is no longer threatened”, it added.
