The always-busy Assumpta Cathedral road in Owerri, Imo State, was barricaded on Friday as students from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and Imo State University, IMSU Owerri, led other students in a protest against the ongoing impasse between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Around 11:00 p.m., students began blocking the highway around the Imo International Conference Centre, IICC, causing gridlock within and outside of Owerri.
Many motorists and travelers were stranded as a result of the students’ actions.
The students carried placards that read, “We must graduate, #End ASUU strike now#,” FG “We say no to educational stagnancy,” “we are tired of deadlock meetings,” and Education should not be this difficult” among others.”
Speaking at the protest site, Comrade Nwokeji Uchenna, Chairman of the Federal University Technology Owerri (FUTO) branch of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), urged the federal government to respond quickly to ASUU’s demands.
Nwokeji, who urged students to be peaceful, said ASUU has been demanding that something be done immediately since the strike began, but the federal government has refused to listen.
“We are pleading with the FG, the Governors and other stakeholders to please do the needful, Nigeria doesn’t need this. The FG should as a matter of urgency call up the strike, and pay allowances owed to ASUU since 2012. Nigeria as a country has enough money to solve the problem.
“Everyday EFCC goes about arresting youths because they don’t want them to go into fraud but when you frustrate them out of school, you don’t blame them for their actions. ”
Comrade Ejike Praisegod, a FUTO student and the Deputy Coordinator of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Southeast, spoke on behalf of the protesters, stating that if nothing is done, Nigerian students will be forced to stay at home for the next six months.
“This strike is causing a lot of harm for the Nigerian student. We can no longer bear the brunt of the feud between ASUU and the Federal Government.
“FG has to understand the fact that Nigerian students will always be at the receiving end. Our students are suffering, our students are fed up. This whole issue is getting out of hand.
“We call for a well-established resolution for the benefit of the students.”
