Nigeria’s National Industrial Court Orders ASUU to Call Off Strike

The National Industrial Court has ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to call off the ongoing Strike and resume academic activities in public universities.

In his ruling on the interlocutory injunction filed by the federal government of Nigeria, Justice Polycarp Hamman ordered ASUU to discontinue the ongoing strike until the suit is determined.

At the hearing of the application last Friday, federal government’s lawyer, James Igwe had prayed the court to hear the plaintiff’s interlocutory application for an injunction against ASUU, arguing that the matter is of great national interest involving millions of students who have been at home since February 14.

“Section 47 of the Trade Dispute Act gives your lordship the power to direct that no worker should continue to embark on strike pending when the applications are heard and determined”, he argued.

He urged the court to order the ASUU in the interim, to return to the classroom, pending the determination of the suit.

This ruling brings a temporary end to the lingering industrial action embarked on by ASUU for more than seven months now. The union had embarked on strike in protest to the government’s failure to honor the agreements they had.

The ASUU is demanding N1.12 trillion from the federal government to improve the welfare of its members as well as to improve the universities’ education standard that it said has long been out of date. In addition, the union is asking the government to allow it to use University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) against the government’s mandated Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for salary payment.

Efforts to resolve the issues have failed as several talks held between the federal government and the ASUU did not yield a compromise.

This order has also halted students’ plans to hold further protests across the country. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had early in the week blocked Lagos-Ibadan expressway, a major highway in Southwest Nigeria. The students also blocked the road to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Lagos, causing many flights to be canceled.

The NANS also threatened to shut down the 3rd Mainland Bridge, one of the busiest routes in Lagos.

In a further threat, the students’ association vowed not to allow any political campaign to be held across the country till students of public universities return to classrooms.

In a press briefing on Wednesday in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, Chairman, NANS National Taskforce, Ojo Olumide, said that if the strike continues, the campaign, scheduled to kick off in September, may not hold.

“Our blocking of access to public roads and ports is just a warning. If the government fails to conclude all the negotiation and agreement with ASUU within the frame of two weeks, they will witness more protests and rallies all over the country, they will also witness the annoyance, anger and frustration of Nigerians Students who have been at home for the past seven months.

“As we promise them that we will not allow any political campaign to hold across the country until we are back to class. This government has pushed so many Nigerians students into depression. We say enough is enough; we can no longer bear the brunt from this avoidable crisis in our nation public ivory towers again,” he said.

Justice Polycap was serving as a vacation judge and thus ordered that the case filed be returned to the president of the Industrial Court for reassignment to another judge.

However, in reaction to the ruling, the students union said the court should have settled with ASUU. NANS National Public Relations Officer, Giwa Temitope, said the judgment betrays equity and that the government shouldn’t have taken ASUU to court in the first place.

“Our attention has been drawn to 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.

“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,” Giwa said.

Also ASUU is said to have rejected the judgment. A source who spoke on anonymity to FIJ indicated that the union may be contemplating a legal action.

“We know the ruling, but we cannot take an action or decision immediately. We are too organized for that. The union’s leadership will meet to discuss and decide what steps to take, and we will tell you,” he said.