The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has rejected an Industrial Court judgement, which ordered Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) to suspend its ongoing strike immediately and return back to the classroom, while describing it as “black market judgment.”
WHAT WE KNOW
Nigerian students under their umbrella body, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), have rejected Wednesday ruling by the National Industrial Court (NIC) of Nigerian, ordering ASUU to call off the seven months strike action.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja had ordered ASUU to immediately suspend the ongoing industrial action, after argument by the counsels to the federal government and ASUU.
Justice Polycarp Hamman on Wednesday held that the strike was a breach of the Section 18(1)(2) of the Trade Disputes Act, which prohibits their action.
However, reacting to the ruling, the National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Giwa Yisa Temitope, described the ruling as a “black market judgment.”
Temitope said the ruling betrayed equity because the Federal Government ought not to drag the academic union before the court ab initio.
According to him, the only remedy to this strike action is for the Federal Government to accede to the demands of ASUU, which the government willingly entered into with them and properly fund education.
NOTABLE QUOTES
Giwa Yisa Temitope, while reacting to the ruling against ASUU noted that:
“Our attention has been drawn to a news of a court judgment mandating the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call of its 7 month strike. As an association, we feel disturbed to read the news of the judgment because we believe that it betrays equity.
“Ordinarily, the Federal Government is not meant to have dragged ASUU to court. But, the fact that they had to drag ASUU to court is a signal that this government cannot handle crisis. And, we want to state categorically that the court cannot force members of ASUU back to lecture theatres.
“And, as it stands today, with that court judgment, we maintain that the court has not resolved the problem and we reject the judgment in strong terms. The court could have said that the Federal Government should go and pay rather than say that lecturers who are on strike should go back to classrooms. We were expecting the court to have understood that lecturers are on contract of personal service hence, they cannot be compelled to render a service they don’t want to render.
“The only remedy to this strike action is for the Federal Government to accede to the demands of ASUU which the government willingly entered into with them and properly fund education.”
CATCH UP
Recall that earlier this Wednesday, the National Industrial court of Nigerian, ruling on the interlocutory injunction brought before it by the Federal Government, had ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities to call off it’s seven months long strike.
The university lecturers had earlier before the judgement was given suggested that even if the federal government succeeds in getting a court order forcing them back to school, that such other cannot force them to teach properly.
COMMENTARY
These recent statements and actions from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as indicative of clearly different approach from the position they have earlier held in the ongoing strike action.
In the recent time, Nigerian students through NANS have again shown some form of understanding of the cross of the matter in this ongoing strike.
Recall that the Federal Government had attempted to pit the students against their lecturers by asking them to take ASUU to court.
These students understand, forcing lecturers back to classroom won’t produce the best from the lecturers and for the student.
It’s only physical labour that you probably force a man to do. That may not work for an intellectual job, because if the lecturers are aggrieved, definitely, they can’t put their best into research and lecturing.
Moreover, the students, like Clariform queried earlier, understand that universities in Nigeria needs proper funding, which the government is mischievously shying away from.
The federal government from all indication appears to be less interested in the overall productivity in the universities. What is of importance to the government seems to be just blackmailing the lecturers into return to the classroom.
That way, as the campaign season approaches, the ruling party will now feel that the ASUU strike action will no longer be a critical campaign strategy for the opposition.
