The
National Coordinator, National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria
(NAPTAN), Chief Babs Animashaun, on Tuesday described the fact of
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) having called of the
lingering 5-month strike as the best Christmas gift to Nigerians.
Speaking with the journalists soon after the strike suspension had
been announced, Animashaun said that the suspension was heartwarming and
a sign of good things to come in 2014.
"With this development, ASUU has given the whole nation, the best
Christmas present and a cause to merry. We, as parents, indeed want to
thank the lecturers for the long struggle and all they went through in
ensuring that some sanity is restored in our public universities. The
universities should be our pride as a people and a country."
He also predicted happiness and peace in the upcoming year.
Also reacting, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, Director, Quality Assurance,
National Universities Commission, said that the development was welcome
and long overdue.
The official urged university authorities to put necessary
machineries in place for smooth resumption of academic and allied
activities.
Dr Olubunmi Ajibade, Senior Lecturer, Mass Communication Department,
University of Lagos, said that suspending the strike after much
deliberation was a welcome development.
"We have always been on ground in our respective universities,
carrying out other responsibilities apart from teaching. We only
restrained ourselves from teaching but have been quietly attending to
the other needs of our students and other academic matters such as
research. It is good to go back to class to do what we know how to do
best," he said.
In terms of the issue of how the lecturers will make up for the lost
period, Ajibade said that there would be a reduction of holiday periods.
According to him, the University of Lagos has come up with its own
academic calendar in which resumption has been fixed for Jan. 6, 2014.
He expressed optimism that with the plan by institutions to reduce
holidays, both students and lecturers would make up for the lost
period.
Source: NAN
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