By
Kabiru Danladi Lawanti
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I don’t need to tell you what ASUU did from 1992 – 2022, that is in summary 30 years of struggle, 30 years of withheld salaries. It got worse from 2017 to 2022 when we became like owls among birds in the afternoon. We were abused, chastised (like common criminals). So let’s not politicise the issue. Parents, students and the majority of Nigerians wanted this. We shouted at the top of our voices, and ASUU had been on strike over this issue since 1987.
Do we have to make everything political when we know that even the person we are rooting for believes in the same thing? Or do we easily forget that Atiku is the owner of one of the largest and most expensive universities in Nigeria?
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As ASUU members, we need to do more than analyse this issue from a political perspective. Considering the outcome of the stakeholders’ committee’s recommendations—I think that was in 2021—what ABU has done is, in fact, quite fair. I wrote on this many times in the last 15 years since joining the university in 2011.
Please have a discussion with any of the ASUU leaders who were involved between 2017 and 2022. That will help you understand the situation much better.