Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, the president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, said on Wednesday that Nigerian students shouldn’t vote for politicians whose kids are enrolled in schools abroad. Osodeke was speaking during a Twitter Space Webinar titled “ASUU strike, Revitalization Fund, and the Way Forward” and hosted by Premium Times. Speaking about some potential solutions to the ongoing strike, he advised students not to support candidates who would not advance their interests. “Anyone you think cannot look after your interests, whose children are busy studying overseas, who are living abroad, I repeat, you don’t need to vote for them because you don’t vote for those who will take your life,” stated Osodeke.
Osodeke was responding to a query on what Nigerian students may do during the ongoing ASUU strike from well-known ENDSARS campaigner Rinu Oduala. The president of the union further lamented the remarks made by David Umahi, the governor of Ebonyi State and chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum, in which he claimed that not everyone should pursue a university education. Umahi emphasized that the Federal Government, headed by President Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), should not have borrowed more than N1 trillion to accommodate the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Osodeke continued on Twitter, writing, “Education is about life. When a governor claimed that not everyone should pursue an education, his son graduated abroad with other governors in attendance. The Nigerian students should hold their PVC, I’ll say it again. Vote out anyone who won’t consider their interests or who doesn’t promise to enhance the educational system in Nigeria during their campaign.
Nigerian students’ hopes of a resumption of classes have been repeatedly dashed by the ASUU’s refusal to do so because of what the lecturers claim is the Federal Government’s failure to uphold the agreement it made with them. The ASUU has been on strike since February 24, 2022. The Tuesday meeting between ASUU and the FG came to a standstill. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, the Federal Government delegation met with ASUU representatives at the National Universities Commission’s main office.
