Over 3,000 Students Sign Petition To Demand ABU Resumption

Myschoolnews gathered that Over 3,000 students have signed an online petition calling on the administration of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) to retract the recently released school calendar that listed January 3, 2023, as the start date.

 a student named Ahmed Manga started a petition on change.org claiming that students' enthusiasm had been muted by the announcement of the new calendar following more than eight months of strike action by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was ordered by the National Industrial Court to mop up the school's accounts in order to pay N2.5 billion to 110 staff members of the institutions who were disengaged in 1996. This led to financial problems at the school, which may have contributed to ABU's delayed resumption.

The petition does note that "the recently revealed academic schedule for 2021–2022 has dimmed our enthusiasm." The Ahmadu Bello University Management has unilaterally and unfairly decided to extend students' stays at home until January 2023, even though other institutions have fully resumed academic activities and exam preparations are now under way. Why?"

The statement went on to say, "As ABU students, we believe this decision is highly harmful, dismissive of our needs and goals, and quite out of touch with the contemporary realities of our nation and the sensibilities of students, their parents, and even lecturers themselves." According to the Daily Trust, 3,030 people had signed the petition as of 4:56 p.m. on Wednesday, which has a goal of 5,000 signatures.

The administration of ABU, however, claimed that it was unaware of the online petition and that the school senate, not the administration, had authorized the 2021–2022 academic calendar.

The school's Director of Public Affairs, Auwalu Umar, stated that the senate, which is made up of all academics, deans, heads of departments, directors of the university, and administrators, is the only body with the authority to approve school calendars.

Umar, however, claimed that during a discussion two weeks ago between the school's administration and student leaders, the topic of resumption was well covered.

"The students believed the senate's decision to be wise, and they were required to return to class and interact with other pupils." He claimed that the senate, management, and students would all profit from the new calendar.