The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has signaled to the Nigerian House of Reps that it is ending its 8-month strike soon, stating, “there is light at the end of the tunnel”.
This was disclosed by its president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, in a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday in Abuja.
This comes after a Court of Appeal ordered the union to resume work with immediate effect.
Prof. Osodeke told the Reps that “there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“This time around it is hoped that there would not be any persons or group to create issues that would make the union run into any hitch,” he said.
He added that the intervention by lawmakers would be the final for the sake of the students and the educational and university system in the country.
“We hope that in the next few days, we will put an end to this strike.
“We want to have a system where the remuneration is enough to attract lecturers all over the World to our universities,” Osodeke said.
“We are the giant of Africa and we must live by that.
“We thank the speaker for this intervention and we must work together so that every Nigerian will be proud of the universities we have,” he further said.
He noted that the strike would have been over a long time ago if the National Assembly had intervened before now
The Speaker of the House of Reps, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, said that the intervention by the leadership of the House was fruitful, noting that the meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari was far-reaching, as the president’s decision would be made known to the union and the public on Oct. 11.
“The issue of UTAs has been resolved as both the government and ASUU have agreed and both will sit to agree to include all the peculiarities required by ASUU on the IPPIS payment platform.
“I believe we have covered ground, and it’s basically what we have agreed on.
“ASUU would have called off the strike today and hopefully in the next couple of days.
