Despite the Abuja Division of the National Industrial Court’s ruling on Wednesday, the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) protracted strike is still ongoing.
PulseNets reports, the court ordered the academics to start working again right away after ruling on a motion submitted by the federal government.
In order to grant the Federal Government’s request for an order of injunction against the teachers, the court cited section 18 of the Trade Dispute Act and the national interest of the Nigerian students.
The lecturers were ordered to report back to work by Justice Polycap Hamman.
University professors, who have been demanding the payment of their delayed salaries, are not willing to give up quickly, nevertheless.
Before going to court, the administration attempted to divide the lecturers by employing the “no-work, no-pay” policy. When it failed, a particular splinter section attempted to end the strike, but that tactic also failed, leading the government to file a complaint with the Industrial Court.
The Federal Government was much relieved by the Court’s decision, and Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labor and Employment, announced that the Committee of Vice Chancellors would be requested to reopen the institutions for teaching and learning.
Ngige expressed his elation and emphasized that the decision did not prohibit continued negotiations between the Federal Government and ASUU, calling the verdict a case of “no-victorious, no-vanquished.”
He said: “The ruling is in the best interest of the nation. It is a win-win situation for all of us- government, students, lecturers- all Nigerians indeed. I have just gotten the order of court asking ASUU to go back to work.
“It is a sound judgment. It is ‘no victor, no vanquished’. You doctors in academics are for now members of ASUU, but, you are here, even though you have dissociated yourself and you are working. We want to thank you for working and teaching your students.
“The court ruling does not preclude us from going on with further negotiation and consultations. The pro-chancellors met Mr. President and made some demands, such as topping up government offer and seeing whether there could be some bailout. Mr. President said in considering it, he will consult stakeholders. So, he is going to consult everybody.”
But ASUU disagrees with Ngige since its president, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, has shown no indication that the strike will end soon.
Instead, Osodeke cautioned about the judgment’s far-reaching consequences in an interview that aired on Channels Television on Wednesday night.
He believed that the verdict would have disastrous effects.
“Let me tell you the catastrophe of what has just happened. The last time this happened was during the military era.
“I can assure you, when this strike is over, a large number of our lecturers are going to migrate from this country. When you are using force to push your lecturers to class.
“First of all, they said, ‘If we owe them, if we don’t pay them, they will come and beg us.’ Seven months, it didn’t work. Our members are still alive. And then, they went to court, you want to force them. It is a catastrophe,” Osodeke said.
The Federal Government and the National Associations of Nigerian Students, NANS, who began civil action on Monday as a means of pressuring the FG and the ASUU to find common ground, are unsure of their potential next course of action.
On Wednesday, the student body made the announcement that no political campaigning would be permitted unless the strike was called off.
The Chairman of the NANS National Taskforce on #EndASUUStrikeNow, Raymond Ojo, stated during a news conference held at the Ogun NUJ Secretariat in Abeokuta that the closure of roads and ports is merely a warning.
“If the government fails to conclude all the negotiation and agreement with ASUU within the frame of two weeks, they will witness more protests and rallies all over the country, they will also witness the annoyance, anger and frustration of Nigerian students who have been at home for the past seven months.
“We promise them that we will not allow any political campaign to be held across the country until we are back to class,” he warned.
As the ASUU has already said, it will appeal the ruling, but there are signs that the government is prepared to exploit the judgment to force the reopening of the institutions.
However, a variety of academics who spoke to PulseNets said that they would be reluctant to follow the directive unless their salaries were paid.
