NDU Students protest closure of varsity

Students of the Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) on Wednesday, July 20, staged a mass protest to express their displeasure over the closure of the institution.

The protest, which was staged in Yenagoa, saw students marching from Mbiama Junction to the entrance to the Government House holding placards detailing their demands.

One placard read, “Dickson, Bring back NDU lecturers, we are tired of sitting at home, we want to go back to school."

Students, who spoke to SaharaReporters expressed their worries that keeping NDU students at home would only increase the likelihood of them engaging in social vices.

One of them, Kemeowei James, while explaining the reason for the protest, said, "yes, we are protesting over the ASUU strike that has lingered, because we are tired of sitting at home; you know that an idle man is the devil’s workshop.

“We want the government to resolve the situation; the strike has increased hardship, making us sit idle and lose focus on our academic pursuits," he said.

Secretary to Bayelsa State government, Mr. Serena Dokubo-Spiff, in his reaction, said the prolonged strike is the fault of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The union, which went on strike in April, due to non-payment of backlog of salaries from December 2015, previously rejected the offer of 50 percent salary by the government.

“I feel your pains. You need not to suffer what you are suffering, but it is because ASUU has refused to sit down with the State government,’’ Mr. Dokubo-Spiff said.

The Bayelsa Government, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Jonathan Obuebite also called on NDU students to blame their lectures and not the government for the situation.