COVID-19:Students Protest Continued Closure Of High Institutions

     

Students of tertiary institutions on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to reopen schools that have been shut down as part of moves to curtail further spread of COVID-19.

They argued that schools could not remain shut while markets and worship centres had been re-opened.

The students made their position known during a peaceful protest in Abuja.

The protest took place both at the Unity Fountain and at the Ministry of Education, both in the Federal Capital Territory.

The President of the National Association of University Students, Ejigah Felix, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, lamented the fact that schools have been closed for too long.

He said it was wrong for political campaigns to be allowed while schools remained closed.

He wondered how could they close their universities, polytechnics and other academic institutions and  be  telling people that they want to stop the virus.

Ejigah  said:“our demands are that our schools should be reopened.

“ASUU strikes have been lingering in this country for so long. Every time that government has an issue with ASUU, it is the students that are at the receiving end. Everybody who is in school for a four-year programme ends up spending six or more years.

“We want the government to find a way of addressing this and stop putting our generation at risk. Students are about wasting one year at home and this is not good for Nigerian students.”

While urging the government to reopen schools, Felix suggested that the same guidelines put in place for the reopening of markets and worship centres as well as the resumption of flights should be put in place in schools.