Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria branch, on Thursday, embarked on a peaceful protest to enlighten the public on the ongoing university lecturers strike.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ASUU members trekked about two kilometres in Zaria as part of the protest.
Addressing journalists after the trek, the Chairman of ABU Zaria branch of the union, Dr Mohammed Kabir-Aliyu, said the essence of the protest trek was to enlighten the public on the demands of the lecturers.
He said “we are on strike because our universities are dying. We want our universities revitalised. We are not on strike because of allowances or salaries.
“Our intention is to revitalise our universities to compete with other universities in the world.’’
The chairman said “lecturers are on strike to rekindle the hopes of children from indigent backgrounds by making the system work as it should.
“Our students know that the system is not working the way it should because the facilities that will make it work are just not there.’’
On Federal Government’s stand that it had no sufficient funds to cater for the demands of ASUU, Kabir-Aliyu said “what the union is asking for is negligible.’’
He appealed to the Federal Government to endeavour to address the lecturers’ demands to save the nation’s education from total collapse.
Some students of the institution participated in the protest. (NAN