An End in Sight? ASUU Considers Suspending Strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may suspend its ongoing industrial action soon.

A member of the union, who spoke with the media on condition of anonymity, said the striking lecturers are currently considering suspending the three months strike.

According to him, the suspension may last for just three months, saying that negotiations with the Federal Government would continue during the grace period.

He said the failure of the government to meet the demands of ASUU within the three months would lead to an indefinite strike.

This is coming a few hours after President Muhammadu Buhari appealed to the union to consider the suffering of students and call off the ASUU strike.

Recall that the union commenced a warning strike on February 14 over the inability of the Federal Government to meet its demands and implement some agreements the two parties entered into previously.

The industrial action was on Monday, May 9, extended by another 12 weeks, which is expected to elapse on August 9.

So far, there have been lamentations on the May 9 extension of the strike as this would amount to six months of closure for Nigerian universities while keeping students idle in their parents’ houses.

The concerns have also ricocheted in the light of the just concluded Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) where more than 1.8 million candidates jostled for admission into higher institutions including the universities currently under locks.

But the Strike Continues…

While the news of a probable suspension of the ASUU strikes raises hope of an end in sight, Business Metrics will caution that this has not been officially confirm by the union.

In fact, effort of President Buhari to placate the academic workers ended in futility on Thursday when a discussion between the federal government and the union again hit rock.

The meeting which was also co-chaired by the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, and the Christian Association of Nigeria’s president, Dr. Supo Ayokunle, could not persuade the ASUU leaders to return to the classrooms while negotiations were ongoing to meet their demands.