The National Executive Committee of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has between now and Sunday (tomorrow) to decide the fate of Nigerian students on its impending strike.
Tracknews.ng reports that the academic union on Saturday commenced a two-day meeting at the University of Lagos, Akoka, to finalise the union’s decision.
ASUU had claimed that the Federal Government refused to implement some of the agreements it had with the union as far back as 2009.
The academic union had on November 15, 2021, given the Federal Government a three-week ultimatum over the failure to meet the demands.
ASUU’s fresh move to embark on another industrial action was heightened during the week following the union’s directive to its branches to observe lecture-free moments to sensitise the public on its demands and why it could commence another round of industrial action, Tracknews.ng reports
The union consequently declared Monday, February 9, 2022, as a lecture-free day to mobilise its members ahead of what it described as the longest strike in history.
A final decision on the looming strike will, however, be reached unfailingly tomorrow as ASUU NEC meets from February 12 (today) and February 13 at UNILAG.
Tracknews.ng understands that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has promised to step into the dispute between the Federal Government and ASUU if the Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission failed to resolve the issue.
He said, “The Ministry of Education is their employer and we have handed over the necessary tools to them. The major issue with ASUU now is the deployment of UTAS which is under the purview of NITDA which is under the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy. The NUC also has its role to play.
“My role is to play a reconciliatory officer. If their employers and the NUC fail to reconcile them, then I step in as the reconciliatory officer. It’s not more than that. But I know their employers are finding ways to resolve these issues.”
This is coming after the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of Nigeria prayed President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resolve their lingering issues to avoid another academic shutdown in the country.
