The president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, has warned that the judgement of the National Industrial Court ordering lecturers back to class will have far-reaching effects.
Speaking during an interview on Channels TV on Wednesday, the don said the outcome of the verdict would be catastrophic. He said, “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, 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. No country who is thinking about the future of their children, thinking about the health of the educational system, who believes in education, (leader) who believes in the future of this country, whose children are in those universities would try that.”
Court Verdict:Lecturers Will Leave Nigeria, ASUU President Warns
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will appeal the ruling of the National Industrial Court which ordered the lecturers to call off their ongoing strike.
Mr Femi Falana, who is the counsel to the union, confirmed this to Channels Television on Wednesday hours after the ruling of the court, saying he was preparing the grounds of appeal at the time of this report.
The industrial action by ASUU has continued to take a toll on the nation’s education, especially the tertiary sector as academic activities in most government-owned universities have been halted for over seven months.
The lecturers downed tools on February 14 over the controversy on the adoption of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) of the government as the payment system in the university sector, among other issues.
They had also condemned the poor funding of universities, non-payment of salaries and allowances of some of their colleagues, as well as the inability of the government to pay earned academic allowance to lecturers.
