The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has assured that the 8-month strike it embarked on will end soon.
ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this in a meeting with the leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday in Abuja.
The impromptu meeting, which was a last-minute move to persuade the lecturers, came on the heels of the Friday order by the Court of Appeal, Abuja, that ASUU should resume work with immediate effect.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila said the meeting was necessary looking at the situation at hand and the need for the lecturers to call off the strike in the interest of the country’s education and the students who had been kept at home for months.
He said, “This is a recap to seal the deal on what has been a long-fought battle; a long hard road for everybody – for ASUU, the students and the government. As you would recall, some weeks ago the House got involved in this crisis and we had long, tough, intense meetings with ASUU.
“We had meetings with those on the government side and we are happy to report that as the result of the consultation and intervention of the House, very significant progress has been made and we are more or less at the end of the road save for dotting some “I”s and crossing some “T”s.
“I believe we have covered ground, covered most of the thorny issues and it is basically, what we have agreed with ASUU is basically to put everything on paper and sign off. I believe if we had met yesterday and the papers had been drawn up, ASUU, I am sure, would have called off the strike today.
“But we only just met behind closed doors now and so we have to draw up the agreement as I have stated to you, and hopefully in the next couple of days, of course, ASUU has to get back to its bases as well. Once that is agreed, I am very hopeful and very excited about the possibility or probability the strike would be called off in a matter of days.”
“We did this for the sake of our students and children and I hope it would be a thing of the past. I thank you very much, ASUU. I also thank Nigerians for their patience, and the students, having endured these many months. But I believe that this has hopefully come to an end in a matter of days.”
On his part, Osodeke, commended the House leadership for its intervention adding that their struggle was in the interest of the nation’s education sector.
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.”
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 October 11 (today).
