By Emegwoako C. Paschal
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has been urged by the Noble Youths Mass Support Association in Abuja to abide by the resume-work order issued by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in Abuja, Wednesday, September 21st.
Mr. Godwin Onmonya, the organization’s national coordinator, made the call during an interview in Gwagwalada, Abuja, he added that the strike was hurting students and causing more damage than good.
Since February 14, the union has been on a nationwide warning strike to emphasize its demands. The president, Mr. Emmanuel Osodeke, has stressed that the action will continue until their demands are met.
The funding for the Revitalization of Public Universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability solutions (UTAS), and promotion arrears are some of the demands made by the lecturers. The 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement’s renegotiation and alleged inconsistencies with the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System are two more.
As the strike advance its seventh month, the federal government was forced to file a lawsuit in court to bring it to an end, and allow classes resume.
Recall recently, students protested through the National Association of Nigerian Students by blocking the entrance to the Lagos International Airport and Abuja International Airport, and promised to advance to blocking other major roads if their demands weren’t met by the government.
At the request of the Minister of Labour and Employment and in accordance with his authority under the Federal Labor Laws, the court granted the resumption order, enforcing an interlocutory injunction, pending the resolution of the substantive suit.
In a similar vein, Mr. Luka Ayuba, a parent in the Gwagwalada Area Council whose child was enrolled in the University of Abuja’s veterinary medicine program, appealed that,
“after each episode of the strike, the children are no more focused and they end up not graduating within the stipulated years.”
“The only thing that bothers me, he continued, is that the government officials don’t understand because their own children attend foreign or private schools rather than public ones.”
ASUU Zonal Coordinator in Abuja, Dr. Salawu Lawal, had earlier declared that there would be no resumption of work in public universities until the 2009 agreement had been renegotiated, signed, and implemented, along with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution. (NAN).
