The Academic Staff Union of Universities, on Monday, warned the Federal Government against reopening tertiary institutions without taking concrete steps to curb the spread of  COVID-19.

Zones of the union said social distancing and other COVID-19 protocols were practically impossible in public tertiary institutions, which were always overcrowded in the country.

They, therefore, warned that any attempt to reopen the institutions would not only be suicidal,  but also worsen the spread of coronavirus.

Also, the National Vice –President of the union, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, in an interview with UGAMATV called on the Federal Government to upgrade the education sector,  if it wanted universities across the country to resume.

Recall that the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba had, on August 22 said  tertiary institutions shut in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in March, would reopen “very soon.”

During a Nigerian Television Authority programme, Nwajiuba said the Federal Government was also working to end the strike embarked upon by ASUU.

But the National Vice–President,  Osodeke, in the interview with UGAMATV called on the Federal Government to upgrade the education sector,  if it wanted universities across the country to resume.

Osodeke said that if government believed that the education sector was critical, it should meet the COVID-19 guidelines which it prepared for school reopening.

He maintained that a topnotch procedure was created at airports because the elite children needed to be kept safe while returning to school abroad, whereas other  Nigerian children were asked to go back to campuses which were not  COVID-19 complaint.

Because of elite children, govt ensured COVID-19 protocols at airports – ASUU vice-president

Osodeke stated, “If government believes that the education sector is critical, they should try and meet those rules. They met them for the airports, you are aware. If you get to an airport before you board a  plane,  there is a procedure you will pass through because the airport is for the elite.  Their children are going back abroad for studies so the airports should be okay so that they can go back to school. Meanwhile,  they want these children to go back to schools where there are no health facilities, no good accommodation; lecture theatres are so small for the students and you want them to go and have a high rate of infection.

“We expect the parents, students and our colleagues in the media to put it to the government that they have spent so much money on COVID-19 since it started, why can’t they spend money on the education sector and upgrade the facilities so that the children can go back to school? That is what we should be talking about.”