A press release signed by the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, on Friday suspended the eight-month-old strike embarked on by the university union.
Driving the news
The Chairman stated during a press interview that the union was obeying the ruling by the National Industrial Court “to resume work pending the determination of the substantive suit.” He further stated that ASUU also applauds the efforts made by the leadership of the House of Representatives to suspend the strike. He also recognized the intervention of other well-meaning Nigerians both within and outside the government
- However, part of the statement read that the National Executive Council of the university union noted that “the issues in dispute were yet to be satisfactorily addressed.”
The big picture
Following ASUU’s declaration that the issues in dispute were yet to be addressed satisfactorily, it is only a matter of time before the university union embarks on another strike or returns to court.
- Neither of the above-mentioned scenarios is the last event Nigerian students deserve as the just suspended strike is the second longest strike since 1992.
- Again, the unaddressed demands do not exponentially improve the country’s educational system or the welfare of its lecturers.
In case you missed it
Since February 14th, ASUU has been on strike in protest over unpaid allowances and in demand of a better welfare package from the Federal Government for professors at public universities.
The Minister of Labour, Employment and Productivity, Chris Ngige, took the striking lecturers to court to force the university union to resume academic activities. The court ruled in favour of the federal government ordering the striking lecturers to return to the classroom.
ASUU appealed the National Industrial Court rulings but lost again as the appeal court claimed ASUU needed to call off the strike before they can consider the “condition precedent for the appeal to be heard.”
The Federal Government, in other news, registered two new trade unions (CONUA and NAMDA) for university and teaching hospital employees to forcefully reopen tertiary institutions, lessen the influence of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and split the ranks of lecturers after eight months of university closure due to strike action.
Looking forward
What further steps would ASUU take to satisfy the demands that triggered the strike in the first place?