The Nigerian Academic Staff Union of the University (ASUU) has finally suspended its 8-month-old strike after days of meetings and negotiations with representatives of the Federal Government. The meeting was mediated by members of the House of Representatives.
ASUU stated earlier that it was set to call off the strike after finalizing negotiations with the federal government.
"Academic Staff Union of Universities ( @ASUUNGR) is set to call off the strike after the finalization of negotiations with the Federal Government in a matter of days. "
In a later statement released on Friday, ASUU took to its official Twitter handle to officially announce that it has finally call-off the strike.
#BreakingNews
— ASUU (@ASUUNGR) October 14, 2022
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (@ASUUNGR) has suspended the strike. #Asuu
Academic activities for all universities that embarked on the industrial action is expected to resume on Monday, October 17, 2022.
The Union, through its president, Emmanuel Osodeke, commends the leadership of the House of Representatives and the president for "timely intervention" and mediation to end the months-old strike.
"Let all of us working together and the members of the House of Representatives working together put a beautiful end to this thing we have started so that every Nigerian will be proud that we have the universities we can be proud of".
"We also extend our appreciation to the president for intervening in the ASUU strike. And I want to appeal that in future we should not allow the strike to linger. The strike should not go beyond two days," Osedeke added.
Recall that the ASUU began the strike on February 14, 2022. The major demands and the cause of the strike by ASUU included federal funding for the revitalization of the nation’s public universities, earning academic staff allowances, the implementation of the judgment of the National Industrial Court, the Issue of the University Staff Schools, Pension related issues, among others.
"Let all of us working together and the members of the House of Representatives working together put a beautiful end to this thing we have started so that every Nigerian will be proud that we have the universities we can be proud of".
"We also extend our appreciation to the president for intervening in the ASUU strike. And I want to appeal that in future we should not allow the strike to linger. The strike should not go beyond two days," Osedeke added.
Recall that the ASUU began the strike on February 14, 2022. The major demands and the cause of the strike by ASUU included federal funding for the revitalization of the nation’s public universities, earning academic staff allowances, the implementation of the judgment of the National Industrial Court, the Issue of the University Staff Schools, Pension related issues, among others.
For the past months, the federal government had failed to reach a final negotiation with ASUU. However, the union received an Appeal Court order earlier this month to end the strike. It is the Appellate Court Order that led to the swift negotiation process that now ends the strike.
Nigeria has about 49 federal universities, but more than 100 public universities, with recognized private universities placed at 79. In total, Nigeria has close to 200 universities but 170 actively functioning. The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) estimates the total number of Nigerian university students to be 2.5 million.
The strike by the academic staff union of the universities (ASUU) had left Nigerian public universities in closure for the past 8 months and millions of students in academic and social dilemmas. While the privileged students have transferred their studies to private universities and oversea institutions, an average Nigerian student in a public university had to fight through a period of a conundrum.
Nigeria has had about 15 recorded strikes since the year 2000. The Nigerian university strikes often take a long-term debate and the effects of the continuous strikes on the Nigerian academic system are conspicuous.
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