Jubilation as ASUU strike to be over in days

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke announced on Monday that the eight-month-old strike would be called off soon.

Osodeke stated that the union had seen “light at the end of the tunnel” during a meeting with House leadership in Abuja.

He noted that “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.”

The union leader added that ASUU’s fight was for the nation’s educational and university system and expressed further hope that the House leadership’s intervention would be the last for the benefit of the students.

“We hope that in the next few days, we will put an end to this strike.

“We want to have a system where the renumeration is enough to attract lecturers all over the World to our universities,” Osodeke said.

He said that Nigerian universities should also be paid in hard currencies for attracting foreign students, while expressing worry over brilliant lecturers leaving the country.

“We are the giant of Africa and we must live by that.

“We thank the speaker for this intervention and we must work together so that every Nigerian will be proud of the universities we have,” he further said.

According to Osodeke, the strike should not have gone beyond two weeks, “if the National Assembly had intervened before now”.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said that the intervention by the leadership of the House was fruitful.

Gbajabiamila also said that the meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari was far-reaching.

He said that president’s decision would be made known to the union and the public on Tuesday.

He said that the leadership of the House ensured that all the demands of ASUU in term of revitalisation and salaries, among others, were provided for in the 2023 budget.

He said that N470 billion had been included in the 2023 budget to accommodate ASUU’s demand.

“ASUU would have called off the strike today and hopefully in the next couple of days.

“We thank ASUU for responding at every moment we have called them.

“We have met in my office and it was positive. We did this for the sake of our students,” he said.