Falana gives hint ASUU strike will be over soon

Femi Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and the lawyer to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has disclosed that the lingering strike embarked upon by the union will soon be called off.

Falana made this unknown on Monday, October 10 during a book launch in Lagos. During his speech at the launching of the book titled: “Breaking Coconut with your head,” written by Lanre Arogundade.

The renowned legal expert stated that ASUU will call off the strike in few days from now following the order of the court of appeal. However, he said the impasse between the striking lecturers and the federal government is likely to be settled fully out of court.

Tejumaiye Adepoju, a senior lecturer in the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in a chat with BusinessDay confirmed this development.

Responding to a question in this respect, he said by God’s grace the strike will soon be over.”

Similarly, Ifeanyi Abada, the chapter chairman of ASUU at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in Enugu State informed BusinessDay that the lecturers will not disobey the court order as patriotic citizens.

However, he maintained that they are still waiting for directives from ASUU national leaders before it can be said authoritatively when the strike will be over.

“We are still waiting for further directives, but we will not disobey the court order,” he said.

Recall that the appeal court sitting in Abuja had earlier on asked ASUU members to obey the order of the national industrial court and return to the classroom after eight months of strike before it could entertain their appeal.

The appeal court insisted that the lecturers must adhere to the interlocutory order of the national industrial court (NIC), which had on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 ordered the aggrieved university lecturers to return to the classroom till the court determines the legal action instituted against them by the federal government.

ASUU as a matter of fact has been on strike since February 14, when the union announced a 30-day warning strike to allow the federal government to address its demands.

However, after a series of meetings and negotiations, the impasse was not resolved which led the federal government to seek legal action to end the industrial action.