The Chairman of the University of Jos chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. David Jangdam, has revealed that not all members of the Union wanted the strike to occur in the first instance.
He disclosed this in Jos on Tuesday whilst entertaining questions from reporters on the decision of the chapter to continue the strike. Jangdam who said that the chapter which voted 159 to 88 to continue with the strike would abide by any decision of the National Executive Committee.
He said, “Yes, the local ASUU chapter voted 159 to 88 against ending the strike at its congress on Monday, but we shall abide by any decision taken by the national body on Wednesday”.
“Even the strike was not supported by all the universities. Many local chapters of ASUU opposed it, but majority wanted it and we embarked on it,’’ he added.
He said politicians and not lecturers should be blamed for the rot in the educational system and the resultant strikes.
“I think the questions should be if the system is fair to the educational sector; Nigerians should ask the leaders why the educational sector is usually the least in their priorities,’’ he said.
“Sometimes, I find the situation a bit perplexing; I wonder why should Nigerians complain about poor quality of graduates and heap the blame on the universities and the lecturers even when they know that not much attention is paid to the educational sector?,’’ he asked.