When ASUU will call off strike finally revealed

Femi Falana, the lead counsel to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has disclosed that the academics' 8 months of industrial action will be called off in days, not weeks.

The senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) made this known at a book launch titled “Breaking Coconut with your Head”, written by Lanre Arogundade, in Lagos on Monday, October 10, Nigerian Tribune reported.

According to the legal luminary, the strike will likely be concluded outside the courtroom.

Falana has been the lead defense counsel to the university lecturers after the union was dragged to the national industrial court by the federal government.

The union and the federal government had failed to reach a conclusive agreement that would warrant it calling off its strike before the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration took the academics to the industrial court.

However, the court ordered the union to return to classrooms and continue negotiating. The union further appealed the judgment at the appellate court in Abuja, but the court of appeal said it won’t entertain the union’s case until it complied with the judgment of the industrial court.

Experts have said the failure of the union to comply with the court order would be considered as contempt which is punishable under the law.

Legit.ng earlier reported that there are indications that ASUU might not win against the federal government in Nigeria after the decision of the court of appeal.

The appeal court has asked the striking lecturers to obey the order of the national industrial court before it could entertain their appeal.

Misbau Lateef, the legal adviser of CONUA, the newly registered academic union, told Legit.ng that no law of any responsible country allows workers to withhold their services for this long.