After eight months of inactivity in federal universities which cripples educational activities, students can now heave a sigh of relief as striking lecturers prepare to call of strike.
To this end, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is reportedly will be holding an emergency meeting on its industrial strike on Wednesday.
According to Insider, the outcome of the meeting would then be sent to the union’s national body, which is expected to have a meeting on Thursday during which a decision on the lingering strike would be made.
“They are planning to call it off very soon. All schools are planning to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow. They have called for it.
“When they vote, they will send their decision to the national body. And by Thursday, the national body will meet, take a decision, and announce it.” TheCable quoted a source familiar with the development to have said.
The source also added that Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of representatives, was crucial to the inroads made with the federal government.
Recall that Gbajabiamila had assured Nigerians that there would soon be information on the outcome of the meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on the strike.
The house of representatives had, in September, met with government officials on resolving the issues that led to the strike.
The source added that the federal government had also agreed to pay the backlog of the union’s salary arrears.
“The house of representatives speaker played a pivotal role in every progress made recently. IPPIS will still be used for now, but ASUU will meet with the accountant-general to discuss how they can factor their allowances into the salary,” the source said.
“The accumulated and unpaid allowances are part of the issue. The federal government has also agreed to pay the backlog of their salaries.”
Another source said the appeal court ruling that ordered the union to resume work immediately is part of the reasons ASUU is planning to put an end to the strike.