Many university students across the country are jumping for joy following the order by the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU to resume work immediately.
The court made the order more than eight months after the university teachers embarked on strike to press home their demands from the federal government. The lecturers started the strike on February 14.
The court had on Wednesday directed both parties to settle the dispute amicably.
The National Industrial Court, NIC had earlier ordered the striking teachers to abandon the strike. They refuse by filing an appeal through their lawyer Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN.
The Court of Appeal ordered ASUU to return to work while ruling on an application by the union seeking permission for it to appeal against the order of the NIS which ordered the striking lecturers to resume duty.
The Court also granted ASUU “conditional leave to appeal the order of the Industrial Court, while insisting that ASUU must obey the order of the lower court with effect from today, October 7.
The 3-man panel led by Justice Hamman Barka said for ASUU to file its notice of appeal within 7 days, it must show evidence that its members have resumed work immediately, warning that failure to adhere to the order, will make the appeal incompetent before the Court of Appeal.
Reacting to the court order, some students who spoke with the magazine said they are happy that the universities will now be open for academic work.
“We have been at home for more than seven months. It’s good news that we are going back to school based on the court order. I hope the lecturers and government will now find a way to resolve the issue amicably,” Tayo Gabriel, a student at the University of Lagos said.
On his part, David Adebisi, who has just gained admission into Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun state said he’s “already packing his bag to go to school as a new student of the University. All that I’m thinking right now is to making new friends and settling down as a university student”, he said.
Meanwhile, the magazine learned that ASUU has conveyed a meeting on how to respond to the court order.
“The National Executive Council, NEC of the Union will meet to decide the way forward. The Union is law-abiding, and I believe our lawyer will advise us appropriately on what to do next,” a member of the Union’s NEC said, saying he wanted to remain anonymous because he has no authority to speak on the issue.
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