There are strong indications that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may have declared an indefinite strike following the federal government’s failure to meet their demands.
It was learnt that the lecturers made the resolution during their National Executive Council meeting, which began at about 12:15am on Monday and lasted for hours at their National Secretariat at the University of Abuja.
The communiqué of the meeting, which will give details of the decisions taken had not been released yet, but credible sources said the majority of the ASUU chapters across universities keyed into the decision to go on indefinite strike.
It was also learnt that beyond the indefinite strike, some lecturers had advised that the union should boycott further talks with the federal government until when another government is formed after the exit of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023. ASUU had declared the commencement of a strike on Monday, February 14, 2022, and has been lingering for over six months.
When our correspondent visited UniAbuja, on Sunday, an ASUU member said the meeting was not for coverage by the media.
However, a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the union, who spoke to Daily Trust in confidence because he was not authorised to speak, said with the declaration of indefinite strike, “There would be no more negotiations with the federal government.”
When asked to explain what he meant by that, the NEC member declined further comments.
He had earlier told our correspondent that there was a shouting match among ASUU members at the beginning of the meeting over some issues, including a comment credited to the ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke when he appeared on Arise Television where he reportedly called state universities “quacks”.
The official explained, ‘’Some people faulted him for saying that, while others backed him. The two camps shouted at each other but we later resolved everything. Let me tell you, no more negotiations until when our demands are met.”
