ASUU Goes To War With Federal Government Again

Who blinks first as we enter the second deadline given by the Federal Government to ASUU?

As at Sunday morning, it remains uncertain whether the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities would call off its five-month-old strike, despite the Government's Monday ultimatum. There were speculations that the university lecturers would suspend the strike after the burial ceremony for their ex-President, Prof. Festus Iyayi, who was killed in an accident involving Kogi State governor's convoy.
But credible sources inside ASUU say government is yet to meet all their demands, strike continues...

The Chairman, ASUU, University of Benin, Dr. Tony Monye-Emina said, "The strike has not been called off. The authority (of the institution) is following government's directive; we are not shifting our stand. It is not a local strike.
"It is not true we are calling off the strike. How can we be holding a meeting tonight? The burial is going on and it continues tomorrow (today)."

Also, ASUU in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, vowed not to obey government's order that lecturers should return to classroom on Monday. The Chairman, ASUU, OOU chapter, Dr. Nasir Adesola said the lecturers would not succumb to threats by government to sack them.
Adesola, who is also the South-West Coordinator, ASUU, stressed that since the lecturers did not go on strike in the first instance because of government, they would not return to work by coercion from government.

He stated that the lecturers would only go back to the classroom when the government meet their demands.
"We didn't go on strike because of government order. The reasons for which we embarked on the strike have not been discharged by the government. Those orders of government are just part of executive recklessness. We are not returning to work on Monday," Adesola told Punch.

Similarly, the ASUU Chairman in Enugu State University of Technology, Prof. Gab Agu, said lecturers would not resume on Monday. He said it was a rumour that the union would call of the strike. He stated that the National Executive Council of ASUU would meet and agree before the strike could be called off.

Same with ASUU in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where the Chairman, Dr. Ifeanyi Abada, said only the ASUU NEC could announce the suspension of the strike.