ASUU Strike: Shutting Down Of Private Varsities By NANS Not The Best Option – Babcock University VC

The threat by National Association of
Nigerian Students, NANS, to shut down
private universities in the country over the
lingering strike by Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU) has been faulted
by President and Vice Chancellor (VC) of
Babcock Private University in Nigeria,
Prof. James Makinde, who has appealed
to the students to have a rethink.
Makinde, who warned that the threat if
carried out has the potential to negatively
affect the educational sector, made the
plea at a Press Conference in Akure, the
Ondo State Capital, shortly after the
WesternUnion of Seventh-Day Adventist
Church in Nigeria elected its new leaders.
The VC noted that though private and
public tertiary institutions serve the same
purposes, the rules guiding both were
different.
According to Prof. Makinde, the
constitution of Nigeria permits any
individual or group to establish schools,
students in private institutions do not
belong to NANS.
Information Nigeria recalled that NANS, at
a rally recently in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State
capital, to protest the over two months
strike action that has kept students of
government owned varsities at home,
threatened to shut down all private
universities in the country to show its
frustration with the face-off between the
Federal Government and ASUU.
But the Babcock Vice Chancellor in his
reaction said, “it is highly ridiculous
because I have never seen in Nigeria that
because NITEL is owned by the
government, and shut down, Nigerians
will begin to call for the closure of MTN,
Glo, Airtel or others owned by the private
sector. For this, I don’t know why
students will now embark on a protest to
shut down private universities because
ASUU is on strike.
“We are not against the action of the
ASUU and we also feel for the students
and, that is why we are appealing to the
government to find a lasting solution to
this issue of strike. But we insist that
shutting down of private universities is not
the best option to end the issue of strike
in Nigerian tertiary institutions”, he
stated.