According to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the decision to end the eight-month strike was not made because the grievances raised by the lecturers were entirely resolved. Rather, it was made in response to a court ruling and appeals from Nigerians.
After the National Industrial Court decided against the union in a matter brought to it by the Federal Government, a court of appeals had ordered the lecturers on strike to resume teaching. Days following the decision of the appeals court, ASUU asked its members to resume attending classes
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“As you have seen from our press release – although they were interventions by the Speaker (Femi Gbajabiamila) and others – the major reason we are resuming is because we are obeying the industrial court’s judgement. The issues have not been fully resolved and no agreements signed,” he said during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
“We are resuming because we are a law-abiding organisation and we don’t want to break the law. We are also hoping that the intervention of the Speaker as promised by him will resolve this problem within a very short time. So, the issues have not been resolved but we would resume because of that court injunction.”
Osodeke stated that “discussion” is the best approach to resolve trade disputes involving academics. He accused Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, of initiating legal action.
However, he asserted that if the Federal Government’s “no work, no pay” policy is upheld, the lecturers might not be encouraged to return to class because “you cannot expect a hungry guy” to be at his best.
In order to prevent this, Osodeke suggested that the government “should pay the salary” to the university professors who, in his words, must “catch up” with the backlog of classes missed due to the strike.
“But one of the ministers, the Minister of Labour, believes that the best way is to force them to class. But because of the interest of the Nigerian people – the students, their parents, and the Speaker who is intervening – our members will teach”.
