NUT to hold NEC meeting Thursday over ASUU strike

The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) is to hold a National Executive Council meeting on Thursday to decide its next line of action over the lingering strike by public university teachers.
The NUT President, Michael Alogba-Olukoya, said this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday.
The union had on September 26 given a two weeks ultimatum to the Federal Government and the lecturers to resolve their differences and end the strike or face a nationwide strike by NUT members.
The lecturers embarked on the strike under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities on July 1.
The lecturers described the strike as “comprehensive, total and indefinite”.
Alogba-Olukoya told NAN that the union extended the ultimatum following appeals from well-meaning Nigerians.
He, however, noted that the extension would end on Tuesday.
He said: “Since we gave the ultimatum, well meaning Nigerians have been pleading with us.
“In order not to cry more than the bereaved, we gave them till October 22.
“The NEC members will meet on Thursday to decide our next line of action.”
The university teachers are protesting non-implementation of an agreement they signed with the Federal Government in 2009 on improved funding of universities and payment of allowances to ASUU members, among others issues.
Meetings between ASUU and representatives of the government failed to resolve the issues that led to the strike.
The government has released some funds to meet some of the lecturers’ demands, but ASUU insists on full implementation of the agreement before calling off the strike.
The strike has kept students in public universities out of school for more than three months.
On Saturday, President Goodluck Jonathan appealed to ASUU members to return to the classrooms in the interest of their students.
Jonathan said that keeping students out of school for this long was unpatriotic, whatever ASUU’s grievances might be.
He said that since the government had shown commitment to improving the condition of universities, ASUU should call off the strike.