ASUU Strike: Market Women Storm National Assembly In Protest

Traders under the aegis of National Market Women Association, Monday, stormed the National Assembly in protest, demanding that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, call off its strike of over 100 days. The protesters, who had been at the Ministry of Education and Office of the Head of Service, arrived the Assembly complex at 11.30a.m. President-General of the group, Mrs Felicia Sani, who led the more than 200 protesting women, said: “We are tired of seeing our children at home. We want our children back in school. Enough of this cheap blackmail. “We all know what they do with our year-one daughters in the university. We equally know that they sell handouts and handbooks. “Is this not worse than corruption of the highest order?” When asked why she did not criticise the Federal Government for failing to reach an agreement with ASUU, Mrs Sani said: “Which agreement? How do you expect lecturers in state universities to earn same salaries as Federal ones? That is impossible. “We are not educated, but you do not expect a hotel in my village to cost same price as a hotel in Abuja. “They are located in different places. So how can a state university lecturer earn same salary with his federal counterpart? “We are begging them for the last time. If we come out again we may have to chase them out of this country and replace them with so many jobless Nigerians.”