Tobias Sylvester
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has kicked against the reopening of universities, warning that the Federal Government would be help responsible for anything that happens to students.
Speaking during a press conference in Jos, Zonal Coordinator, ASUU, Bauchi zone, Prof. Lawan G. Abubakar, said the union was not opposing the reopening of universities but measures against coronavirus must be taken.
Abubakar warned thst it’s not safe for the government to reopen universities without fully equipping them against COVID-19. He said:
“If the government goes ahead to open universities without fully taking into consideration necessary measures against COVID-19 anything that happens to students they should be held responsible.
“And the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly exposed the poor funding of our health institutions and particularly the educational institutions which further shows there are fundamental issues which needs to be addressed.
“And the union is not saying the school should continue to remain closed but what the union is saying is that; neither the COVID- 19 pandemic nor the ASUU strike is the reason to justify the continue closure of the practice but fundamentally the government has failed.”
“They have failed to address the obvious issues because there is no commitment. The facilities needed in the educational and health sector does not come to fruition yet. It is not all about pretending, you put protocols in place and there are no facilities to comply with the protocols.”
KanyiDaily recalled that ASUU had said that attempts to reopen tertiary institutions without taking concrete steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 would be suicidal.
