Bauchi residents have commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime for shutting down universities because of the February 25 and March 11 elections.
A cross-section of the residents who spoke to journalists on Wednesday in Bauchi described it as a “welcome development.”
On February 9, through the National Universities Commission, the regime ordered universities to shut down nationwide for the national and state polls.
Ahmed Shehu, a parent, said the gesture would enable students to participate in the election and exercise their franchise.
“And if the schools are open where lectures would be going on, they would not be able to leave schools to go and cast their votes in their various places of registration,” Mr Shehu explained.
“What this means, in essence, is that the government would be denying them their constitutional rights. So what the government did in this regard is right and commendable.”
Another resident, Ibrahim Ali, said the gesture indicated the regime’s commitment to protecting life and property.
“For the government to have taken the decision after a perceived security threat to the staff, students, and properties of the institutions shows that it is more concerned about the wellbeing of its citizens,” he said.
However, Olubunmi Akintoye, a student, said he wanted more from the decision as students who registered to vote in school, including him, would be disenfranchised.
“Elections would come up on February 25 and March 11. why declare a three-week break for the institutions? One of the reasons why I do not subscribe to the decision is that universities are just trying to balance up the deficit of time wasted during the last industrial action,” Mr Akintoye stated.
“Nothing should have interrupted academic activities in this regard.”
Also commenting, the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) vice-chancellor, Bauchi, Muhammad AbdulAzeez, said the university had closed, adding that the students would resume on March 14 in line with the federal government directives.
“I would like to urge the students to behave well because when you come to the university, the first thing is not about a degree,” Mr AbdulAzeez explained.
“You must be found worthy of character and learning. So, character comes first before learning.”
From late March to December 2020, Nigerian public universities were locked due to the strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
After months of negotiations, the lecturers’ union finally suspended the strike on Wednesday, December 23.
However, schools could not resume immediately as the nation had already entered the festive period filled with public holidays. Similarly, the federal government also directed all universities in the country to suspend academic activities due to the spread of COVID-19.
The directive was issued by the National Universities Commission (NUC) via a circular signed by its deputy executive secretary administration, Chris Maiyaki.
However, some universities have now announced their resumption dates. Legit.ng in this piece lists three public universities that are set to resume academic activities in January.
List of Nigerian universities that have announced resumption dates after 9 months of ASUU strike.
University of Ilorin : The management of the University of Ilorin has declared that the institution would resume full academic activities for the Rain semester on January 11, 2021. After 9-month-old strike, Nigerian university cancels academic session, announces fresh resumption date The university explained that lectures will, however, be delivered online in line with the directives of the NUC.
Bayero University Kano (BUK) : The Senate of Bayero University Kano (BUK) has approved the cancellation of 2019-2020 academic sessions. According to the Senate, new academic session for undergraduate students will begin on Monday, January 18, 2021 as the first semester, while the second semester will begin on Monday, May 3, 2021. For the postgraduate students, the Senate slated Monday, January 18 as the date to resume for the first semester while the second semester will begin on Tuesday, June 1.
University of Benin in Benin City (UNIBEN) : All returning students (old and new) of the University of Benin in Benin City (UNIBEN), Edo state, have been also directed by the management of the institution to resume for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic sessions on January 30, 2021.
Student Covid tests for Christmas holiday from 30 November
Covid tests for students in England, so they can go home safely for Christmas, could begin on 30 November, according to a letter from the universities minister to vice chancellors.
A week of mass testing for students is proposed – running between 30 November and 6 December.
The letter, seen by the BBC, promises a fast turnaround for tests and “results within an hour”.
The aim is to stop students spreading the virus as they return home.
The first week of December, after the lockdown ends, could then become the “travel window” for many students to leave university for the Christmas holidays, with face-to-face teaching expected to finish earlier than usual this term.
But those who test positive will have to take another test and, if found to be infectious, have to stay in isolation.
Larissa Kennedy, president of the National Union of Students, said: “The government have finally listened to our calls to ensure that students can travel home safely for Christmas.
“We particularly welcome this mass-testing approach as it equips students with the knowledge to make informed decisions about travel ahead of the winter break,” she said.
‘Huge hurdles’
But the University and College Union, which represents university lecturers, said it was not yet clear whether all universities would take part in the testing programme or how many students would be included.
“There are huge hurdles to overcome to manage this process,” said union leader Jo Grady.
Around 1.2 million students are expected to move at Christmas from their university term-time address to a home in another part of the country, where there might be different levels of infection.
This has raised concerns among the Sage scientific advisers of a “significant risk” that this migration could spread the coronavirus.
To prevent this danger, plans are being made for mass testing using so-called “lateral flow tests”.
These nose and throat swabs are self-administered, with no need for tests to be sent to laboratories for results.
image captionThe tests will be able to provide results within an hour
The letter from Universities Minister Michelle Donelan, and its accompanying documents, says: “The tests we are deploying have a high specificity which means the risk of false positive test results is low.
“Although the test does not detect all positive cases, it works extremely well in finding cases with higher viral loads – which is those who are most infectious.
“As the test is easy to administer and does not require a laboratory, testing can take place on a very regular basis,” the letter to university leaders said.
Free testing kits
Accompanying documents show a planning timetable in which sites are prepared for testing from 15 November, ready to operate the following week, with “pre end-of-term testing” between 30 November and 6 December.
The test kits will be given free to universities, which will have to provide a place for the tests to be carried out, in a way that can process thousands of students within a short time frame.
Ministers have already indicated that universities will stop in-person teaching two weeks before the end of term – so when students have been given the all-clear they could be expected to leave their term-time address and go home, in a “test and release” process.
This could mean that by about 9 December, many students will have left for Christmas.
There are also believed to have been discussions about how the departure of students can be made safe – such as co-ordinating staggered times for leaving between universities in the same city.
There could also be calls to avoid public transport – with suggestions of chartering coaches or using private transport, such as parents collecting students, and creating “travel corridors” to control traffic away from universities.
University leaders have previously raised concerns about why this guidance has been left so close to the end of term – and there will be questions about the capacity of universities to be ready in time for the mass testing.
There have also been questions about whether students will return as usual in January or whether there will be a staggered start and more testing, or whether more courses will switch online with some students initially studying from home.
Universities UK welcomed the plans for more testing capacity, but warned that universities would “now need clear assurance of the effectiveness of the tests as well as further details from the government on specific responsibilities under the proposed scheme including the governance, indemnity, resourcing and costs recovery”.
University students under the aegis of the National Association of University Students said they had run out of patience as a result of the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The students said they would express their displeasure with the lingering strike by embarking on a nationwide protest starting from Tuesday. They said their first point of protest would be at the National Assembly Complex, followed by the Office of the Ministry of Education, and thereafter that of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
In a letter dated October 13, 2020 by the Senate of NAUS, a body comprising the presidents of the Students’ Union Government of various universities, the association said students had stayed “for too long” at home and therefore demanded an immediate end to the strike.
The letter was co-signed by the Senate President of NAUS, Ibrahim Lawal; Deputy Senate President, Asiwaju Ajibowu; and the Clerk, Gbande Abraham.
Speaking with our correspondent on the upcoming protest, Lawal said it was because the government failed to respond to a letter NAUS wrote to enquire what efforts were being made to end the prolonged strike.
He said, “We are inviting all students to come out and protest because we have overstayed at home, and education is important. In August, we wrote a letter to the Minister of Education [Mallam Adamu Adamu] on the reopening of schools. We asked what efforts were in place to end the ASUU strike. But the minister has not responded to our letter for over two months. We have been patient enough to hear from the minister and he has refused to respond. We are tired.
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
