The Federal Government has instructed university vice chancellors to reopen their institutions and permit students to resume their classes.
Since nearly eight months ago, the Academic Staff Union of Universities has been on strike.
The association is requesting money from the FG for the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), Earned Academic Allowances, and Promotion Arrears.
Others include the 2009 ASUU-FG renegotiation agreement, and the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System’s discrepancy.
Remember that the Federal Government recently challenged the association’s action at the National Industrial court.
The court, last week, through Justice Polycarp Hamman, granted the Federal Government’s request for an interlocutory order to stop ASUU from extending the strike.
ASUU has since appealed the ruling, even as its counsel, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has questioned the ruling of the court, claiming that the National Industrial Court lacked jurisdiction to decide the dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
However, in a latest development, the government has instructed vice chancellors to reopen schools and allow students to resume lectures through the National Universities Commission.
The Federal Government (FG) gave instructions to all vice chancellors, pro chancellors, and chairs of governing councils of federal universities to reopen schools in a letter that was made public to journalists on Monday, and signed by the Director, Finance and Accounts of the NUC, Sam Onazi, on behalf of the commission’s Executive Secretary, Professor Abubakar Rasheed.
“Ensure that ASUU members immediately resume/commence lectures; Restore the daily activities and routines of the various University campuses”, the letter letter read partly.