The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) during its meeting with the leaders of the Nigerian House of Reps signaled the possibility of an end to the eight-month-old ongoing university strike.
Driving the news
In his own words, the chairman of the union, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, stated that “there is light at the end of the tunnel.” He added that ASUU is hoping “that there would not be any person or group to create issues that would make the union run into any hitch.”
- The chairman also hinted the strike could end in a few days.
What’s more
The Speaker of the House of Reps, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila stated that Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari would announce a public decision on the ongoing strike today.
- The federal lawmaker also said “the issue of UTAs has been resolved as both the government and ASUU have agreed and both will sit to agree to include all the peculiarities required by ASUU on the IPPIS payment platform.”
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 from professors at public universities.
Last Wednesday, the appeal court asked the federal government and ASUU to settle out-of-court to resolve the ongoing disagreement between them. However, the duo failed to reach a conclusive decision and reappeared in court.
The Federal Government also registered two new trade unions (CONUA and NAMDA) for university and teaching hospital employees in an effort to forcefully reopen tertiary institutions, lessen the influence of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and split the ranks of lecturers after 8 months of university closure due to strike action.