Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities Federal University, Dutsinma, Katsina State, on Thursday staged a peaceful protest against the Federal Government over the treatment of members of the union after they embarked on a strike action that lasted for eight months.

The lecturers warned of a bleak future for Nigerian education except something urgent was done.

The union members had earlier in the day held a two-hour congress where they reviewed the crisis.

Following the congress, the members marched through the university campus, carrying placards and singing solidarity songs

A statement by the union after the protest said the FG had not addressed any of the issues that led to the nationwide strike.

The statement, signed by the institution’s ASUU Chairman, Dr Jibrin Shagari, and the Secretary, Dr Mzungu Ignatius, said, “We wish to state to both the Nigerian government and the public that this slavish treatment and humiliation of the academia only spells doom to the future of our children and the nation, as the fate of any nation lies in the hands of her intellectuals.”

Meanwhile, the ASUU members at the Umaru Musa Yar’dua University in Katsina protested and spoke through their Chairman, Dr Murtala Kwarah, and the Secretary, Dr Shamsudeen Bello, condemning half salaries payment and insisting that ASUU members were not casual workers.

They also lauded the Katsina State Government for paying their salaries throughout the period of the strike.