JUST IN: ASUU not going on strike, but…

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, ended its National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting late Monday (yesterday), with a resolution not to embark on another strike action over the payment of half salaries to members by the Federal Government.

However, the union, according to Vanguard source, resolved to wait for the Speaker, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila’s intervention in its face-off with the government over the 2009 agreement.

Meanwhile, no member of the body, including the President, Professsor Emmanuel Osodeke, who attended the meeting held at the University of Abuja campus where ASUU’s headquarters is located, has spoken about the outcome.

For and against strike

But a source said members resolved not to explore the strike option in getting the government to address the contending issues.

It was gathered that some members had pushed for declaration of total and comprehensive strike across public universities in the country but majority kicked against the action, saying it was no longer fashionable under the present circumstance.

Those against the strike, argued that it would be wrong to embark on the action again, thus compelling students, who have already returned to their various schools following earlier suspension of the action, to return home.

The statement released by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to the effect that government would not pay members full salaries as they were being expected, was said to have further deflated the argument by those who had pushed for strike as a last option.

Some members had suggested that since the suspension of the strike was at the Speaker’s instance following his meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, it would be wrong to resume action when he (Speaker) was still pushing to have the federal government rescind its decisions on no-work, no-pay policy.

A source from the meeting said, “embarking on another round of strike was not considered an option in resolving the current issues with the federal government at the meeting,” refusing to speak further.

Asked what really transpired at the meeting, he said: “You would hear the rest through the appropriate channel.

“As a body, we have people that speak for us. You will hear from them on what really happened,” he said.

ASUU President, Prof. Osodeke, did not pick calls made to his mobile telephone line.

A follow-up message to the phone line was yet to get a reply at the time of filing this report.