The Federal Government (FG), through the National Universities Commission (NUC), has asked Vice Chancellors (VCs) of Federal Universities to resume academic work.
Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities were given instructions by the Federal Government to reopen and resume classes by the National Universities Commission (NUC).
The letter was signed by the Director of Finance and Accounts of the NUC, Sam Onazi, on behalf of the commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed.
It was addressed to all vice chancellors, pro chancellors, and chairmen of governing councils of federal universities.
“Ensure that ASUU members immediately resume/commence lectures; Restore the daily activities and routines of the various University campuses,” the letter read.
National Industrial Court orders ASUU to return to teach
Senator Chris Ngige, the minister of labor and employment, suggested last week that the government would order the reopening of federal universities in response to the National Industrial Court’s decision.
As per section 17 of the Trade Dispute Act of 2004, the court had ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities to resume work.
ASUU, however, on Friday filed an appeal and a request for a stay of the NIC order’s enforcement through legal counsel.
In other news, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has cautioned Nigeria to brace itself up for a protest more than EndSARS, should the strike action continue.
The association threatened to stage a massive protest in the South-south.
Should the Federal Government fail to send lecturers back to the classroom, NANS threatened to cripple the economy. So far as this is concerned, Vice Chancellors (VCs) has been tasked to resume academic work by the Federal Government (FG).
NANS ZONE B’s Comrade Kings Tamarapreye, the South-South Coordinator, stated during a briefing this past weekend in Uyo that the organization will stop at nothing to ensure that students returned to their different schools.
Tamarapreye promised that the entire country would be shut down and warned that the students’ upcoming actions would be “worse than the EndSARS protest.”
“As the leadership of NANS ZONE B, we wish to restate our total commitment towards the return of Nigerian students to the various campuses.
“We give a vote of confidence to comrade Usman Barambu-led administration for a job Well.done in bridging the gap between the federal government and the academic staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“We reaffirm our total stand by calling the ASUU body to honour the court order of reopening the institutions as we equally call on the federal government to as a matter of urgency subscribe to the demands of ASUU.
“It is on record that in this particular Zone (NANS Zone B, South-South), we have led several forms of protest to see how we can return students to school because the main that we were elected leaders is to prioritize the welfare of the students.
“It is a sad thing that for eight months now, Nigerian students are still at home. It is on record that we have blocked the roads of Akwa Ibom and the Cross River States in solidarity.
“There was a memo for the mobilization of the nation shut down and it is still on course. As were are appealing to ASUU to listen to the court order and return to school, if they fail, we will mobile and shut down the whole country because the federal government has been so nonchalant to education in this country.
“We all know that education in this country is underfunded and we will not fold our arms, it is time we take our destinies into our hands. In this South-South region, we are going to block the Port Harcourt International airport, block Calabar-Itu highway as well as other infrastructures.”
