After staying away from academic works for almost a year due to the lingering issues between ASUU and the Federal Government, the hope of Nigerian students resuming on Monday 18th of January despite calling off strike after an agreement was reached with the government is being threatened by a second wave.
Even though states across the country and also the National University Commission (NUC) has directed schools to reopen on January 18, the Union leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has revealed that Nigerian Universities are not prepared for the resumption of operations due to lack of preparatory materials to handle the Covid-19 pandemic for students and teachers.
The union chairman at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State Dr Adeola Egbedokun in a statement said the union cannot afford to mess with the health of its students and warned that no preparatory measures have been put in place to deal with the pandemic.
He stated that COVID-19 is very real and the second wave is more serious as described.
“We cannot afford to toy with our health and the health of our dear students in the name of resumption, which is politically motivated.
“There are no preparations for safe re-opening of the universities and I think parents must insist on safe re-opening. The current classroom and hostel configurations in our universities do not in any way conform with the PTF (Presidential Task Force) on COVID-19 protocols.
“There is no way universities can achieve that. I have said this elsewhere, that rather than for the government to have addressed the obvious deficits in the public universities during the lockdown and strike, they were playing to the gallery,” he said.
Also, the Chairman of ASUU-FUNAAB Dr Adebayo Oni added that the University lacks protective materials for hand washing, as lecturers have not been provided sanitizers. He also warned that the University may not have the capabilities to deal with a surge of students during the pandemic.
“The lecture halls are overcrowded. As of today, in my own campus, I have not seen any facility for hand washing. Who is to provide sanitizers? Do you expect lecturers to provide sanitizers for themselves. Fumigation of the environment from time to time should be done.
“It is definitely a threat to the resumption of academic activities. The fact is that under this circumstance and looking at the threat of the figure, going physical with students would be more disastrous.
“Conducting physical sessions, physical lectures with students would be more disastrous,” he said.
