The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has kicked against the Wednesday ruling of the National Industrial Court ordering the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call of its seven-month-old strike.
Prime Business Africa reports that the National Industrial Court of Nigeria on Wednesday ordered the ASUU to suspend the ongoing nationwide strike pending the determination of a suit filed by the federal government against the union.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe court granted an order of interlocutory injunction seeking to retrain ASUU from going on with the strike.
However, the national student body in a statement by its National Public Relations Officer, Giwa Temitope, condemned the court judgement, stating that it is quite pathetic and betrays equity.
The student union stated that rather than direct ASUU to return to the classroom, what the court should have done is to order the Federal Government to resolve outstanding issues with the striking lecturers.
The NANS spokesperson further stated that the fact that the federal government had resorted to dragging ASUU to court was clear signal that it could not handle the crisis, adding that the court cannot force the lecturers back to class rooms.
The statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to a news of a court judgment mandating the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call of its 7 month strike. As an association, we feel disturbed to read the news of the judgment because we believe that it betrays equity.
“Ordinarily, the Federal Government is not meant to have dragged ASUU to court. But, the fact that they had to drag ASUU to court is a signal that this government cannot handle crisis. And, we want to state categorically that the court cannot force members of ASUU back to lecture theatres.
READ ALSO: BREAKING: Court Orders ASUU To Suspend Strike
“And, as it stands today, with that court judgment, we maintain that the court has not resolved the problem and we reject the judgment in strong terms. The court could have said that the Federal Government should go and pay rather than say that lecturers who are on strike should go back to classrooms. We were expecting the court to have understood that lecturers are on contract of personal service hence, they cannot be compelled to render a service they don’t want to render.
“The only remedy to this strike action is for the Federal Government to accede to the demands of ASUU which the government willingly entered into with them and properly fund education.”
ASUU embarked on the strike on February 14 to over the failure of the government to meet their demands for improved funding for public universities, a review of salaries for lecturers, among other issues.
There have been a series of negotiations between the government and ASUU but all ended in a stalement.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
