ASUU Strike 2013 Update: Union to Meet with President Jonathan, May Call Off Strike on Monday

ASUU Strike 2013 Update: Union to Meet with President Jonathan, May Call Off Strike on Monday
Students and workers protesting against the ASUU strike on August 13, 2013; and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images; Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Zachary Stieber
11/24/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

The ASUU strike 2013 continues, but the latest update is that the union may call off the strike on Monday.

The union held a two-day National Executive Meeting on Friday and Saturday, and a source says that the union may call off the strike on Monday, after meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.

UPDATE: Strike Not Over, Wike Calls Union’s Demands ‘Outrageous’

The main caveat would be a stipulation that the Central Bank of Nigeria and a fiscal commission monitor the agreement between the union and the federal government.

“We may call off the strike on Monday,” the insider told the Leadership.

“It is one of the decisions we reached at NEC meeting,” the source added.

The union will meet with the president on Sunday or Monday, the source said, and issue an announcement on Monday regarding its decision. 

The union leadership unanimously decided to involve the central bank and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission in the agreement, the source said.

Among the other issues discussed at the so-called “secret meeting” was how to deal with the universities that have announced that they will re-open without union consent.

The news comes after a tumultuous last couple weeks for the union. Besides the break-away universities, the union has faced increasing criticism from officials and the public over the prolonged strike. 

The union appeared to be prepared to end the strike on November 20 and officially announce that it had done so the next day. But former union president Festus Iyayi suddenly died from a car accident on his way to the NEC meeting, so the meeting was postponed.

People weren’t sure when the meeting would be rescheduled, and the union has remained secretive about its actions after the crash. The two-day meeting just held was referred to as the “secret meeting” because there was no official announcement and the only information gathered about it came from anonymous sources.

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UPDATE: Strike Not Over, Wike Calls Union’s Demands ‘Outrageous’