ASUU Strike Update: Government Gives 1 Week Deadline

ASUU President Dr Nasir Fagge, left, and Nigerian Minister of Education Nyesom Wike. (ASUU; Facebook)

The Nigerian Federal Government on Thursday called on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), a union of university lecturers, to end its months-long strike in a week. It also said that lecturers would be removed if they kept up with the strike past Wednesday, Dec. 4.

The Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, said the union has seven  days to end the strike, which began on July 1, it was reported.

ASUU went on strike, accusing the government of not implementing a 2009 deal that was agreed upon by both parties. The deal would improve their welfare and improve facilities at state-run universities.

If the ASUU fails to call off the strike by next Thursday, it will face being expelled.

On Thursday, Wike was not pleased with the ASUU for making new demands around three weeks after its leadership met with the government. Those meetings raised hopes that the strike would end.

“As a responsible government we cannot allow the continuous closure of our public universities for this length of time, as this poses a danger to the education system, the future of our youths and national development” said Wike, according to the AFP news agency. 

The strike has left hundreds of thousands of Nigerian students rudderless.