It is a thing of sadness and shame that majority of Nigerian students are at home for about four months due to a seemingly unending strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. Our Leaders, the especially those at the National Assembly, don't deem it fit to call on the Presidency to bring to an end this shame as a matter of urgency. ASUU can't be scored best in its continued action of insisting on all or nothing. The hard-line posture can be because most of our leaders and lecturers' children are studying overseas or in private universities. I must therefore recommend the Nigerian Labour Congress for calling on the Federal government to resolve the issue quickly or it would be forced to join the strike. It is a great deal to push the government into a quick response. It would have been better for the NLC to have given the Federal Government an ultimatum so as to show how determined it wants the strike to end. A drastic situation demands a drastic action too.

PHILIP Ejutse,

Ehjmc, Asa Dam Road, Ilorin, Kwara State,

+23470549664.

This impasse between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities is quite unfortunate – that the government is reneging on an agreement signed and ASUU is holding on very tenaciously to the full implementation of it, knowing full well that some parts of the agreement can only be implemented in phases over time. The reference to the UNESCO prescription of 26 per cent of government budget to the education sector is an idle talk, given the fact that other sectors are equally crying for adequate funding. The universities have produced manpower that cannot be absorbed by the industries functioning at present. Focus should be more on expanding the capacity of the industries to absorb the products of these universities, rather than forcing the government to implement a prescription that is only relevant to developed economies functioning normally.

Gabriel Ipheghe,

206 Road, FESTAC Town, Lagos State,

+23480229204.