Strike: Bayelsa students protest endless Govt, ASUU negotiations

Commercial activities and vehicular movements were, on Wednesday, put onhold for about seven hours in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital following a protest by the students of the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) over the prolonged negotiations between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) and the state government.

The protest, which began as early as 7a.m., witnessed angry students marching through the ever busy Melford Okilo Road, blocking the State House of Assembly, brandishing placards with various inscriptions such as “No need for new university, maintain NDU”, “ Bring back NDU,” “We are tired of staying at home”, “Save NDU,” “We want to go back to school”, and “ASUU, agree with government, government agree with ASUU”.

Some officials of the State Government accused a Human Right activist, Ebiserikumo Jason Gbassa, who led the protesting students of allegedly playing out the script of the All Progressive Congress(APC).

One of the spokesmen of the students and a 300 levels Engineering student, Comrade Omiela  Dumotonye, said although the protest was peaceful and not sponsored as alleged, “what the student want is for the State Government and ASUU to return to the negotiation table and ensure the payment of salaries . We are not harming anybody”.

A level four Medicine and Surgery student, Miss Adeniyi Sophia, said academic programmes had been disrupted, noting that her discipline was supposed to take just six years but with the strike it would eventually be more. She said most of their lecturers were coming from states outside Bayelsa and they were not paid, and wondered how they would journey to their destinations and come for lectures. She called both parties to come to compromise and end the strike, so that academic activities could continue.

Another protester, a 300 level student of Philosophy, Comrade Dee Mitin, said ‘the protest is not about civil servant matter. It is a wake-up call for the State Government and ASUU to return to the dialogue table and resolve their differences. They should come to an agreement within seven days”. Mitin threatened that the students community in NDU had resolved to embark on a mega rally and shut down the state if the issues between the State Government and NDU were not resolved.

Addressing the students, SSG, Dokubo Spiff, while in solidarity with the protesting students, however blamed the strike on ASUU, which, he said, had refused to honor its  agreement with the state government.

Spiff said: “I feel your pains; you need not suffer what you are suffering, but it is because ASUU has refused to dialogue with the state government. He said: “ASUU gave government many conditions and promised to resume work when the conditions were met and after government had met the conditions, ASUU came back again with more conditions and the government asked them to resume work first as promised which they have refused.

“ASUU has been uncooperative with government and uses the students as pawns. They have connived with politicians to portray the government in bad light.” He appealed to ASUU to see reasons with the state government and call off the strike.

Also reacting, the State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Hon. Jonathan Obuebite, accused the opposition of instigating the protest to cause insecurity and a breakdown of law and order in the state, “Politicians are behind the protest. One Gbasa and a self-acclaimed alumni of the school, whom we know as an APC stalwart, are part of the protest.”

The commissioner also said the attempts by some suspected hoodlums and members of the youth chapters of the opposition parties in the state to hijack the peaceful protest was however prevented by the scores of armed security men.

He called on ASUU to call off the strike and allow Bayelsa State students meet up with their counterparts in other states academically, adding that government would continue to engage them till the interest of Bayelsans were protected.

“Yesterday, we issued a statement about the planned protest by the students aided by desperate politicians and today they came out, politicians are really behind the whole process but we all can see that at the middle of everything the student disagreed with them and said if its politics you have come to discuss we will not allow you”.