Wednesday, Hundreds of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, students, staged a solidarity match, blocking ever busy Benin – Lagos Highway in support of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for the improvement of the University Education.
The Students called on the federal government to meet the demands of the lecturers and make learning more convenient for them.
Speaking to the journalists on behalf of the students, the President of the Students Union Government (SUG), Foster Amadin said the students would continue the protest in support of the lecturers.
His words; “This is a warning protest, we are airing our grievances to let the government know that we are watching. ASUU should know we are watching and that if proper measures are not taken to check this strike, the effect will not be nice. We are ready to stay here except the federal government listens to our lecturers.”
Corroborating Amadin, the Speaker of the SUG, UNIBEN, Dignity Amenaghawon said “The essence of the protest is because of the ASUU strike, we are in the streets clamouring for the federal government to answer ASUU’s demands and put an end to these strikes, the federal government should respond to the demands ASUU is making.
“This is not the first time ASUU is going on strike, this issue with the federal government has been on ground since 2009, they had an agreement since 2009 that the federal government is yet to fulfill. The students are at the receiving end because from time to time, when they go on strike, students are affected.
“We have a situation where students enter the school for a course of four years and they will be in campus for six to seven years in other countries, things are not like this, the government should answer ASUU’s demands. We are in solidarity with ASUU, the government should meet their demands.”