A popular lawyer, Chief Thompson Joseph Okpoko, SAN, today confessed that the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) seven months strike has been taken too far.
He implored the union of lecturers in the universities to ideally negotiate with the Federal Government and bring an end to the strike.
Chief Okpoko made this revelation during a chat with newsmen at his chamber in Warri, Delta State.
According to him, “If they negotiate, they reach an agreement, let them put it in writing with the federal government in a memo and if the government does not comply with what they want, then, they should consult their lawyer to see what they can do using the law against government because government is bound to obey the law.”
The Nigerian lawyer revealed that ASUU are the creators of the next generation, and added that if the union decided not to teach again, the Nigerian public university system will collapse.
“If ASUU insists on striking for eternity, students will not go to school. Then, you have dropouts. The female will become pregnant, premature mothers. The result is that you are breeding poverty upon poverty, and then of course, the insecurity we are talking about will multiply.
“We have cases of students who are on strike now being armed robbers, being kidnappers and so on. And off course, you saw the demonstrations in Lagos that they’re blocking the road. What has the road user got to do with the grievance of ASUU members? They’re transferring their aggression against government to the ordinary man and who is this ordinary man? Their fathers and especially those who are working to pay their school fees. So, they have extended it too much.”
The lawyer however, stated that the union needs the maturity of olden days teachers and lecturers to proffer solutions to the matter.
He also condemned the Federal Government for its inability to adequately fund the education ministry.