Employers say ASUU strike worsens the employability of Nigerian graduates

The National Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has pleaded with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government to put an end to incessant strike plaguing Nigerian University education.

The association said the strike worsens the employability of Nigerian graduates.

While commending the Federal Government and ASUU for resolving the three month strike recently suspended, NECA in a statement said the ASUU strike has become a sort annual tradition.

Federal Government representatives and leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities during one of their meetings to end ASUU strike Pulse Nigeria

The statement reads in part: “The news of the calling off of the strike came as a huge relief and we would like to commend ASUU and the Federal Government for going through the tortuous process of arriving at an agreement. We believe this was done in the interest of students and the nation at large.

‘’Though the calling off of the strike is commendable, we are deeply concerned about how the ‘annual’ strike continues to be a recurrent issue in our educational system. It has become almost impossible for students in tertiary institutions to have one session at a stretch without interruption.

‘’The three months’ strike has further cemented the perception of the Nigerian student as being unemployable due to the ceaseless interruptions of their academic activities. ‘’In the Human Development Index, HDI, ranking, Nigeria sits in a pitiable 157th position of the 189 countries assessed in 2017.

“If we are desirous of improving our HDI ranking, we cannot continue to treat our education system with disdain. Our focus now should be on ensuring our students learn without any interruption and as a matter of urgency, commence an overall reform of our educational system.”

This is the 14^th time ASUU would declare a nationwide strike in 20 years.