There have been secured signals that the ASUU strike will soon be called off and students of public universities will return back to school. The speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke have encouraged the public that the lingering strike will be called off in a matter of days.
Gbajabiamila after a brief meeting with executives from ASUU and the union president expresses his optimism as to the strike being called off soon. This was echoed by SAN Femi Falana at a book launch in Lagos. The union president, Emmanuel Osodeke said: “Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. What that means is that there is hope, but we are still negotiating.”
However, no specific date has been given to when academic activities in public universities will resume. “We will let you (press) know when we finish our negotiations,” he said. He said this after the meeting with Gbajamiamila. He appreciated and commended the house of representatives for their approach regarding the strike and also mentioned that the strike would not have lasted this long if they had done it a long time ago.
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Earlier in the year, ASUU embarked on a nationwide strike and there have been several meetings and negotiations which all proved abortive. After the back and forth, the Federal Government dragged the union to court. Last Friday, the Abuja Appeal Court passed an order of immediate resumption to the lecturers.
Osodeke said he is aware of the progress but will have to consult the other members of the union before a decision is made.
He said: “We have met briefly in the Speaker’s office and looked at all the issues. He has briefed us. We have taken note of what they have covered. As you know, in my union, we operate bottom-up.
“We don’t take decisions on their behalf without having their consent. We have agreed that between now and tomorrow, we are going to get some documents signed that we can take to our members. We will do that as quickly as possible in the interest of all of us, Nigerians and the students, so that this thing can be resolved as quickly as possible.
