COVID-19 - Don't Open Universities, Warn ASUU Chairman

Hope of an imminent reopening of Universities across Nigeria suffered a set back after Prof Ayo Akinwole, Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan Chapter released a statement on Sunday advising the Federal Government against it.

A report credited to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Prof. Akinwole warned against the reopening of Universities, arguing that the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on schools could be enormous if responsibility was not taken to ensure safety.

Prof Akinwole advised government to open schools only when the right condition and measures have been put in place, warning parents not to jubilate at the news of a possible reopening of schools.

“Our position, as a responsible union in all these is that; throwing schools open in the midst of all these, is an open invitation to the tragic explosion of the COVID-19 scourge on a scale never witnessed anywhere since its outbreak.”

 "No pecuniary gains would be more than the lives of lecturers and their students", said Prof Akinwole.