FG and ASUU are unable to resolve their strike without going to court, despite the appeals court's advice.

 

On October 6 2022, the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities informed the Court of Appeal that they had been unable to negotiate an amicable agreement about the eight-month-old nationwide strike by lecturers, as recommended by the appellate court.

James Igwe, the attorney for FG, and Femi Falana, the principal attorney for ASUU, both disclosed this.

Justice Hamma Barka, the presiding court, gave Falana the chance to respond to the counter affidavit that the FG had submitted in opposition to the appeal's hearing.

According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, talks have already started and would continue when the day's events are through. He urged that the three-person panel of the Appeal Court hear their application contesting the Industrial Court's decision.

Since no amicable resolution had been reached as the court had recommended, the counsel for FG and ASUU concurred that the matter should be heard by the court.

In Nigeria, academic employees at universities are represented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which was established in 1978. ASUU is a branch of the 1965-founded Nigerian Association of University Teachers (NAUT). The University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ife, and University of Lagos were the only five universities that made up NAUT at the time. On May 30, 2021, Professor Victor Emmanuel Osodeke became the organization's president. 

ASUU now represents several colleges, including Federal and State Universities, and any strike the union decides to go on would have an impact on these institutions.

The Federal Government of Nigeria announced the foundation of two new academic unions on Thursday, October 5, 2022, the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) and the Congress of Nigerian University Academics, following ASUU's 234-day (33-week) strike action (CONUA)

ASUU was established in 1978 to represent the interests of all academic staff in Federal and State universities in Nigeria. It is the successor organization to the Nigerian Association of University Teachers, which was established in 1965.

There are numerous universities that are part of ASUU but are not part of the organization as a whole. The following institutions are among them, along with every private university in Nigeria.

1 Federal University located in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

2 Federal University of Ilorin, also known as Unilorin

3 Delta State University, Abraka – popularly known as DELSU

ASUU announced a one-month strike in 2022 that will start on February 14 of that year. The revitalization of public institutions, earned allowances, better funding for state universities, and unpaid promotion arrears are just a few of the requests made by the lecturers. Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, established a commission to revise the 2009 agreement with ASUU on March 7, 2022. Professor Emeritus Nimi Briggs, Pro-Chancellor of Alex Ekwueme Federal University (AEFU), Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, is the chairman of the seven-person panel.  ASUU extended the strike by an additional 8 weeks on March 14. After exactly 56 days of the strike, on April 11, 2022, the federal government finally met with ASUU. One of the longest ASUU strikes in history, it was extended by an additional 12 weeks on May 9 and went on for six months without being resolved. ASUU extended the strike by a further four weeks on August 1, 2022. On August 16, 2022, the FG met with ASUU to continue talks. ASUU promised to call off the strike if its demands were granted, however the meeting resulted in no agreement. ASUU later announced that it would start consulting on the best course of action. In response to the government's offer, the local ASUU chapters at ABU, BUK, UDUS, and OAU opted to continue and declare an indefinite strike. State universities have also insisted on pursuing legal action, including Benue State University, TASUED, Adekunle Ajasin University, and Kano State University of Technology to the logical end of the strike.

#ASUU #FG #COURT #STRIKE #APPEAL