National Industrial Court rules against Asuu ordering striking lecturers back to work

NIGERIA's seven month-long lecturers' strike look like it is finally over after the National Industrial Court has ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities (Asuu) to call off the ongoing action and return to work.

Since February, most tertiary institutions across Nigeria have been closed as a result of a strike by lecturer's union Asuu. Due to an inability of the government and the union to reach an agreement on her pay and conditions of academics, institutions have remained shut and exasperated with the situation, the National Association of Nigerian Students was planning nationwide action.

In July, President Muhammadu Buhari called on Asuu, to return to their classrooms in the interest of Nigeria's students and the country. However, the Asuu leadership rejected his offer, recalling the  number of times the federal government had breached agreements they had reached, saying the union should be the one saying enough is enough.

At the time, however, Asuu reiterated that it was ready to call off the strike if the government okays its two main demands which are the acceptance of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution and the renegotiated 2009 pact. Asuu advised the president to leave a legacy for himself by doing the needful to end the face-off.

Emmanuel Osodeke, the Asuu president said that in July, it was sad that almost a month after  the union leadership concluded negotiations with the Nimi Briggs committee, the government had yet to get back to it. He said it was the same thing last year when the union had a pact with the Professor Munzali Jubril committee on the condition of service for university teachers but the government failed to honour the agreement reached in May 2021.

Today, however, the National Industrial Court invoked section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act to grant the request of the federal government for an order of injunction against the lecturers. Justice Polycap Hamman issued the order suspending the strike while ruling in an application filed by the federal government asking that the university teachers be compelled to go back to work pending the resolution of their demands for better working conditions.