From Idongesit Inyang
CROSS RIVER
Protesting university students in Cross River have called on Governor Ben Ayade to pay the bursary of students of the state origin in tertiary institutions.
The students made the call on Monday while holding a peaceful protest in Calabar to appeal to the Federal Government to end the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
They said, “It is sad that we are in a state with two professors as leaders yet the students can’t get their bursary.”
Speaking during the protest, the leader of the group, Mr Anthony Efa, said also that it was unfortunate that they found themselves in a nation that does not value education.
According to the student’s leader “our library is in shambles and has been in ruins for many years now and the governor was doing nothing about it.”
Efa said it was unfair for a student to be admitted into one of the nation’s tertiary institutions for a four year course but ends up spending up to six years due to constant industrial actions.
“We have come to say enough is enough, what we want is for the strike to end so we can return to class and end when we should end,” he said.
He said, “We will remain here at the gate of the governor’s office today until either the governor or his deputy comes out to address us.”
The protesting students carried placards, some of which read, “end strike now,” “put your children in public schools,” “fix our state library.”
It would be recalled that ASUU is embarking on a one month warning strike to press home their demands for better conditions of service and funding of the nation’s institutions.
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