ASUU Sets Up Crucial Meeting, Prepares To Take The Next Step On Strike, and Gives An Update On The Resumption

An important meeting of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) leadership has been scheduled to discuss whether or not the eight-month-old strike should be called off.

According to information provided by Akahi News, the meeting will take place on Sunday (today), and the appeals court decision that mandated the lecturers’ return to class will be the primary topic of discussion.
The National Executive Council of the ASUU would be looking into the implications of the Appeal Court’s decision, according to a member of the union who spoke with the Daily Post on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

He stated, “We will know the fate of Nigerian students who have been forced to stay at home for almost eight months due to the Federal Government’s negligence after the Appeal Court ruling will be critically reviewed on Sunday.”
“Ngige and the Buhari government failed to understand that even if they force the union to resume work, they cannot force the lecturers to teach the Nigerian students whose future is at risk,”

Keep in mind that the ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022, and despite numerous meetings between the union and the federal government to discuss ways to deal with the situation, no agreement has been reached.
The government brought ASUU before the National Industrial Court on September 24, directing the court to order the lecturers to return to the classroom while negotiations continue.
ASUU filed an appeal of the decision, dissatisfied.
However, the Appeal Court ruled against ASUU on Friday, upheld the lower court’s decision, and ordered the strike to be immediately suspended until the substantive suit was decided.

We Will Examine the Decision As an immediate response to the Appeal Court’s decision, ASUU President Professor Emmanuel Osodeke stated on Friday that the union has not yet received the decision, but that it will examine it and announce the next step when it does.
He stated, “We have not received the ruling; when we do, we will review it with our attorney and then we can proceed.”
In the meantime, the Federal Government has threatened to sue the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) if they do not resume their strike in accordance with the National Industrial Court’s ruling. This comes after the Court of Appeal ordered the ASUU to call off its strike.

Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, disclosed in an interview with Channel TV that he had instructed labor controllers to monitor compliance at all tertiary institutions in the states.
He claims that as one of the implications of the Industrial Court’s decision, he has instructed controllers in the 36 states and zones to contact universities to verify that vice-chancellors have opened the doors.
Ngige stated that his controllers would report whether the university gates and classroom doors had been opened to determine whether teachers had reported today.