Breaking: Finally, ASUU strike to end as union reaches deal with FG

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) call off its over three-month-old industrial action came in the evening of Thursday, February 7, with the report that the association has reached an agreement with the federal government. The agreement was signed by the leadership of ASUU and federal government after a series of meetings. The lecturers, however, promised that they would resume strike if government reneged on the Memorandum of Action (MoA) just reached. The union warned vice chancellors against “act of impunity, nepotism antithetical to university culture.” unnwifi had reported that following the inability of stakeholders in the education sector to resolve the strike embarked upon by ASUU, the association on Tuesday, February 5, conducted a nationwide referendum. The referendum, it was learnt, was to decide whether to suspend the industrial action which has crippled activities in the nation’s universities for three months or to continue until the federal government meets the demands of the lecturers. The referendum was organized by the national leadership of the union which directed its coordinators at the zones to meet with their various chairmen over the action. It was also reported that in a decisive effort to resolve issues that started ASUU's prolonged strike, the federal government released N16.8 billion to settle outstanding salary arrears of lecturers in universities. The minister of education, Malam Adamu Adamu, revealed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Saturday, February 2, adding that the fund is to be released by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF). However, the leadership of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) vowed to disrupt the election if the ongoing strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) is not resolved. According to the students, the three-month old strike apart from hindering their academic pursuits will also disenfranchise about 22.3 million of them. The students claimed many of them had registered at the INEC offices nearest to their institutions and are presently in their various homes due to the ongoing strike. "The continuous strike action by both ASUU and ASUP has not only brought increased pain on students and their parents, it is now seen by us as a deliberate ploy to disenfranchise our members, especially those who registered within their school environments and are presently in their various homes," Comrade Danielson Bamidele Akpan, NANS president said.