The Socio-Economic Rights And Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on Nigerian students who wish to join in a suit against President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to indicate their interest to do so. SERAP made the call on Thursday on its Twitter page while announcing that it is preparing a suit against President Buhari’s administration over its failure to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
SERAP wrote, “BREAKING: We’re preparing court papers to sue the Buhari administration over the failure to meet the demands of ASUU and to allow poor Nigerian students to go back to school.
“Please urgently indicate your interest to join the suit especially if you are university students.”
Public university lecturers embarked on strike on February 14 this year over the Nigerian government’s failure to meet their demands. ASUU’s demands include funding for the revitalisation of tertiary institutions. Among others, the union wants the government to release N220 billion each year; review NUC 2004 Act to tackle the proliferation of universities; allocate 26 percent of its budgets to the education sector, and implement the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
Following a series of negotiation meetings with the Nigerian government, the ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, at a recent press conference in Abuja, said, “We want to end the strike. We are not suspending the strike. You can only end the strike when all the demands have been met.”
Meanwhile, the government has adopted a ‘no work, no pay’ policy as punishment for the striking lecturers. The union on Monday declared the strike indefinite, saying it will not end the industrial action until the Nigerian government meets all its demands.
