Students of state-owned universities in Ondo State have issued Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa a 14-day ultimatum to resolve the ongoing industrial dispute that has paralysed academic activities at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), and the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), SavannahNewnow Reports.
The ultimatum was issued by the National Association of Nigerian Students Joint Campus Committee (NANS-JCC), Ondo State, following the suspension of a planned student protest in Akure on Monday.
The protest was suspended after the intervention of the national leadership of NANS, which appealed to the students to give the state government an opportunity to address the crisis.
Chairman of NANS-JCC in Ondo State, Mayomi Adeboye, said the students agreed to suspend the protest after the NANS national president informed them that Governor Aiyedatiwa had indicated that his administration was taking steps to resolve the grievances of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and other workers’ unions.
Adeboye said the students would give the government two weeks to resolve the dispute and restore normal academic activities across the affected institutions.
He, however, warned that failure to meet the deadline would compel the students to resume their planned protests.
“We have been home for too long,” Adeboye said, urging the governor to treat the matter as an urgent priority and take decisive steps to end the prolonged disruption of academic activities.
The students’ position comes amid growing concerns over the impact of the industrial dispute on their academic programmes, examinations and graduation timelines.
NANS-JCC appealed to the state government to urgently engage the affected university unions and reach a lasting resolution, stressing that students should not continue to bear the consequences of a dispute between workers and the government.
The student body said it would closely monitor developments over the next 14 days, after which it would review its position based on the government’s response.
