A non-governmental organisation Human Rights’ Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said it is embarking on a hunger strike to protest federal government’s handling of the four-month old strike by university teachers.
HURIWA said in a statement in Abuja that the hunger strike would begin next Tuesday through Wednesday, and urged Nigerians to join “if their health conditions permit.”
The statement was signed by the group’s national co-ordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.
HURIWA said its board resolved on “embarking on a physical but non-violent civil disobedience measure to call on President Jonathan to take up effective and urgent measures to reopen public universities.”
It continued, “We…urge our members, supporters, admirers and lovers of Nigeria’s educational system to join us in solidarity by hunger striking between Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. We also agreed to serve public notice through this press statement to President Jonathan and the Education ministry including ASUU about our resolve”.
“Our main reason for this hunger strike is to protest the lackadaisical and near-reckless approach by both Nigerian government and officials of Academic Staff Union of Universities to end the four months old strike to enable children of the very poor Nigerians to return to public universities.
We also want ASUU to adopt peer review mechanism to fish out her members that are perpetually in the devilish habit of demanding sex-for-marks from students and/or constantly extorting students through unauthorized sale of poorly written handouts and lecture papers”, the group added.
HURIWA blamed the strike on government’s failure to “discharge her contractual obligations signed since 2009 to adequately fund public university system and pay agreed statutory emoluments to the poorly remunerated public university teachers”.