We are willing to call off strike – ASUU

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has expressed the union’s willingness to end its seven-month-old industrial action.

Osodeke disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja, at a National Town Hall Meeting on Tertiary Education tagged: ‘The Locked Gates of our Citadels -A National Emergency.’

Recall that the body shut down academic activities across public institutions in the country following its industrial action on February 14.

The Federal Government recently sued ASUU at the industrial court in an attempt to end the strike.

Osodeke said lecturers were willing to return to school if the Federal Government implements its proposal, saying that negotiation could be reached if the government was willing.

“If the government loves this country, these children and their parents, then they should come to the table and let us resolve these issues in one day”.

The ASUU president also expressed sadness over the lingering strike resulting in the government taking the union to court.

He said suing the union was not an option as it would further worsen the situation of the students and tertiary education in the country.

According to him, students would be at the receiving end if the court forces lecturers to return to school, as they won’t force them to teach with open minds, NAN reports.